Only the blind truly see
by Conna McCanna
Summary: Here is my view on a slightly different set of events regarding the Nekoken training, and the changes it may have caused. Ranma arrives at the Tendo residence with a slightly different problem....
1. Only the blind truly see: Prologue

I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters part or parcel of that great work, nor lay claim to any of the incredible ideas expressed by Rumiko Takahashi, or Viz video. This is just a labor of love from one fan to the rest.

Prologue

Genma stood above the pit, listening to the howling and yowling coming from within, listening to his son learn the dreaded Neko-Ken. The cats yowling and hissing grew louder and louder, as he heard them fighting with his son, patiently, he waited, waited to witness the technique that would make all of this worth it. Then, he heard a scream of agony, not of triumph, followed by a yowling and hissing that was…ominous.

He did not have time to react as a dark haired blur came flying out of the pit, blood flowing freely down his face. After that, he was introduced to a brief world of pain before he mercifully passed out.

"So sorry for the wait, but we had to sedate him before we could get a look at his injuries." The doctor said "From the looks of his injuries, and yours, I can almost believe your story about being attacked by a tigress and her cubs, with the amount of lacerations you both have received. You will be fine in a few days, none of the slashes are in vital areas….Your son, on the other hand…..I am afraid to say that the gashes on his arms, legs, and torso are minor compared to the damage done to his face and eyes, especially his eyes. I will not know for certain till we can test him fully, but your son could have permanently impaired vision, even to the point of blindness. Now, if you don't mind, I need to go look at the first test results. I will keep you informed." With this, the doctor left Genma standing alone in the room.

'Oh my god, what have I done? Nodoka is going to KILL me!' With that thought, Genma started pacing once again.

This is my first published fanfic, and I hope that it works well, if you have any suggestions or comments, R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters part or parcel of that great work, nor lay claim to any of the incredible ideas expressed by Rumiko Takahashi, or Viz video. This is just a labor of love from one fan to the rest. This is my fisrt major re-write, more shall come, I am sure.

Only the blind truly see, part 1

It was a rainy day in Nerima, not unusual for this time of the year. What was unusual were the two figures fighting their way down the street, locked in an intricate dance of punch, counter punch, dodge and weave. "Listen, ya old man, I am NOT going to go through with another of your hair-brained schemes!" The smaller of the figures said " And give it back to me….NOW!" with that, he drives a fist into the gut of the larger figure, who hurtles backwards, landing on the porch of the dojo their battle had been leading them towards. At the thump outside their door, there came a hurried "Come quickly! It must be them!" as the door was opened hastily by a man who was….crying? "Oh! Saotome, my old friend! It is you!" At this the larger figure stands up, brushing his gi off and smiling back at the hysterical man "Ahhh, Tendo, my old friend! It is good to see you again! And this," he said as he reached back and pulled the smaller figure forwards, into the door "is my one and only son, Ranma." Then leaned down "Try and behave yourself, Ranma" he growled into the boy's ear. "Yeah, yeah, like you are one to be talking about THAT." The boy snarled back under his breath.

Soun Tendo looked over the two, and grinned from ear to ear. "Well, at last we can fulfill our promise of so many years ago! Please, come in, and meet the rest of my family." With no further ado, he leads them, one being slightly forced along, back towards the main room of the house. "I would like to introduce you to my three daughters, the eldest one" pointing at the rather demure looking young lady dressed in a simple dress with a spotless apron" is my darling Kasumi." She gives the two guests a slight smile. "My middle daughter, Nabiki" he indicates the young lady with short hair, eyeing the two of them in a disinterested way. "And finally, my youngest daughter, Akane." He indicates the young lady dressed in a gi, her bluish-black hair trailing down her back. "Daughters, this is my old friend, Genma Saotome, and his son, Ranma, just returned from an extensive training trip. Now, since everyone is introduced, we can get down to business! Ranma, choose which of my daughters you are going to marry!"

At this, there were a number of startled gasps, and quickly worded protests. The protesting goes on for a time, till at last Soun raises his hand, and says "This is final! The two schools WILL be joined! Genma and I decided this years ago!" Finally, as the arguing settles down, the one figure who had been trying to get everyone's attention managed to do so. Ranma frowned and started to speak " Listen, there is something that you need to know about me first….." he was quickly cut off by his father. "Yeah, uhhh, he is a world-class martial artist and…..he is the sole heir of Saotome-Ryu Anything Goes martial arts….and…."at this, Ranma buts in"…and blind…"

The silence around the room was so heavy, you could almost feel it, hanging on your shoulders. All eyes turned towards the young man who had just spoken, just then noticing that he never looked up, and that his bangs fell over his face. He slowly lifted his face, revealing his bluish-white eyes, and not looking at any of them….or anything, for that matter. Kasumi let out a small gasp of shock, her sympathy going out to him. Nabiki almost sneered, thinking about how he was not going to be that useful as a husband, being blind, even if at first she had though he was kind of cute, the last thing she needed was yet another mouth to feed. Akane just looked at him, wondering how much it had hurt for him to have said that.

"Well, um, that was…..awkward" Soun said after a bit. Ranma just sighs softly "If you want to call off the whole stupid wedding idea, then that is fine with me. It's not like I wanted this" Genma glares at his son. Soun just shakes his head "No, a promise is a promise, and we, the Tendo's, will honor that promise…." he looks just a bit unsure, though "Well, I guess that brings us to you…choosing your bride. Which of my daughters will it be?" Ranma sighs once again "Well, if you are going to insist on this, will you at least let me look at them first?" Soun gives him a puzzled look, and says "But, if you are blind, how will you look at them, if you can not see them sitting across from you…."

Ranma shook his head slightly, and lifts his hands slowly "If you would permit me, I can look at them by touching their faces." Everyone looks a little uncomfortable at this, but slowly agrees. Carefully, he stands up, and edges his way around the table, one hand never leaving its surface. He stops in front of Kasumi, and slowly reaches out to touch her face. 'Hrm...Soft, warm skin, delicate features, but I can almost feel her sympathy pouring out around her. I don't need anyone's pity, or sympathy, for that matter.' Next he reaches for Nabiki, feeling how she edges away from his touch, almost being able to taste how disquieting this was for her. 'No, at least sympathy I can stand…but I could never stand this….not for long, anyhow.' With a resigned sigh, worrying about what would come next, he starts to reach towards Akane, as his hand is grabbed 'Gee, even better, she wont even let me touch her….'he started to think as, to his surprise, she guides his hand to her face, holding still as his hand gently slides over her upturned features. 'Is it just me, or did she just try to make it easier for me to look her over?' He let his focus slowly slide onto her, feeling the ebb and flow of her Chi, he felt the warmth of sympathy and the odd coolness of pity that he always came to expect…but there was something different about it….something new. He hadn't felt something like this since leaving China. He can feel the warmth of her confidence and pride, and at the same time, he could feel a touch of darker emotions tainting her flows, the stifling heat of frustration, and the rush of her hot temper. He can guess at her regret for his state, that he can no longer practice his own families Art. He could feel the flows of light and dark flowing around her, and through her, as he let himself feel her aura flowing. Slowly, he pulls his hand away, a distant look on his face. "I choose her" he said before even really thinking about what he had just said.

With a sudden growl, Akane launches into one of her famous tirades "What! You choose ME! Like I am some kind of…of….prize or possession! You choose me! What about MY say in all this!" Soun just looks down at her, tears streaming down his face "Oh, my little daughter is going to be a wife!" The waterworks picked up in intensity.

Standing to his full height, Ranma stands before Akane. " You are right, you are not a possession or a prize. If you can beat me, I will rescind my choice, and let you three decide, even if you decide it is none of you. If I win, then you will at least let me explain why, then you can decide. Either way, the final decision is yours to make." Akane just blinks, her rage suddenly diminishing 'wait, isn't he supposed to start trying to order me around, that is what most of the other boys would do right now…like that Baka!' "Ok, you got yourself a deal. Don't expect me to go easy on you, I am the best fighter in all of Nerima!" Her proud grin showed this was a fact, not an idle brag. "You know, you can always give in now, before I…" "Before you what, have to beat up a cripple?" Ranma inserts. Akane fumes even more at this "No, you blockhead! Before I HAVE to beat you! BAKA!" Ranma smiles at this, an odd little smile, "You mean, you are still going to fight me?" "Yeah, if you don't do the smart thing and concede now!" Akane huffs.

Ranma grins a strange, lopsided grin at her, "Well, in that case, you better lead on, so we can get this over with." Akane just grumbles at this. "I can't believe I am doing this." Akane says with chagrin. "Just one moment." Ranma said, holding up his hand "Pops, gimme my stick." At this Genma just grumbles, and flips a rod to Ranma. Ranma snaps the rod, extending it to its full length. "What is that, anyway?" Akane says in a perplexed tone of voice. Ranma gives her his little lopsided grin "Oh, this? It's my walking stick, it helps me get around. Mind you, I love running into walls and such as much as the next guy….."

Akane just could not figure out what to make of him, he acts like he actually thought he could take care of himself, but, he was blind. He could not do a lot of the stuff that most people did, right? The only reason she accepted his little challenge was so that he would see that she did not want to be drawn into an engagement that was not her choice. She would just hit him enough to make him back down, and that would be that. She wasn't planning on hitting him hard, just hard enough to scare him. Then, she could make up her own mind. Even if he was just a little bit cute.

"Well, come on, let's get this over with. You know, you can still forfeit." Akane says hopefully. Ranma just smiles and says to her "Nah, I think that this will be fine. Are you sure you are okay, fighting a blind guy?" Akane balks at this a bit before saying" Ahh, sure, no problem at all." Kasumi and Nabiki just exchange glances before Kasumi says "Akane, dear, maybe you should not go through with this. After all, he is a…a guest in the house, and you don't want to make a bad impression on your new…your new fiancé." Akane cringes a bit at this before replying "Now, Kasumi, it's not like I chose this, you know. If Dad hadn't set up all this, then I wouldn't be in this situation right now."

Ranma just sighs "are we going to do this or aren't we? If so, could just point me in the direction of the dojo if you would, and I am sure I can find it." Akane flushes at this and points "It's just down…this way." She grimaces a bit at this. "Ok, here, let me show you." Hesitantly, she takes his arm and guides him towards the dojo, kicking herself all the way.

As they walk into the dojo, Ranma breathes in slowly, soaking up the sounds and smells of the dojo. He slipped his arm free of Akane's and slowly starts walking around the dojo, his stick tapping back and forth rapidly. Akane watches him with a curious look on her face before asking "What exactly are you doing?" Ranma turns to face her, his stick still against the wall he was walking along "I was just looking around the dojo, getting a feel for it." Akane just nods slowly. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Ranma sighs before answering "Yes, I am quite certain about this, shall we get started, then?" With this, he tosses his stick into the corner and assumes a relaxed stance off to one side of the mat. Akane shakes her head in a resigned manner, and assumes her usual aggressive stance facing him, bows, and launches her attack, aiming to take him out in one devastating hit. She looks startled as at the last moment, he easily sways out of the way of her attack. Her brows knit as she throws another hay maker at him, looking even more frustrated as he bobs out of the way of this attack as well. With a grim expression, she launches into a series of punches and kicks, with him sliding out of the way at the last moment. "Gah! How are you doing that!" Akane grumbles as he continues to avoid her assault. "Actually (dodge) I just feel (dip) your chi moving (duck) towards me (dive) and move out of the way. (twist)" Ranma quip's.

With a quick sliding step forward, he darts one hand out to touch her lightly, his fingertips just barely touching her. She leaps back quickly, trying to open space, but he moves with her easily, leaping as she does, effortlessly moving out of the way of her strikes, his fingers never leaving contact with her. Moving in rhythm with her, he starts throwing a series of punches and kicks in a perfect counterpoint to her own attacks. They quickly settle into a dance of punches, kicks, blocks and dodges. She begins to feel that he is playing with her, not really fighting to his full potential, and shudders a bit at this. If this is just what he considers sparring, what is fighting him like? As she ponders this, she tries to think of a way to end the match. She knows she needs to figure out how he is matching her, or she might not be able to beat him, and that is a thought that worries her.

She tries to feint high, while kicking low, and before she can even finish the sweep, he is leaping over her leg, his fist flying out to stop just in front of her face. She stares in shock at his fist, poised just beyond her nose for a moment, before looking up at him. She is even more surprised by the smile on his face. "Thank you for the fight, it's not often that I get a good, honest fight. Now, what do you say we call it here, and go get something to eat? I'm starved." At this point, his stomach punctuates his statement rather loudly. "I still don't see how you did that….I mean, you can't see, can you?" Akane looked puzzled as she asked him that. "No, I'm blind as a bat, but my ears still work, and so do my fingers." Ranma says with what that lopsided grin Akane is starting to associate with him.

Akane thinks a bit this for a moment, and then asks "Is that how you knew what way I was going to move? Just by touching me? Were you reading my mind?" Ranma just sighs, and shakes his head "No, I just could feel you shifting your weight just before you leaped, all I had to do was follow your cues, and keep in touch with you. It's a little trick I was taught after my accident, during one of the times my dad…thought I could use some extra training." "Your dad taught you that? Wow, I'm impressed, he must be a pretty good teacher. I would not have thought that from listening to him in the house." Akane says with a thoughtful look on her face. Ranma just laughs a bit at that and said "What? Pops? Yeah, I guess he is a decent Sensei, but I learned that from a traveling monk that was teaching Tai Chi. The rest of my blind fighting technique I learned..." Ranma gives an uncomfortable pause "…while I was in China, at a very secluded village." Akane just shakes her head at this "Well, I guess you will just have to tell me about your travels some time. It's not like we aren't going to get the time, after all." Akane looks down at her feet for a moment "Why did you choose me? Why even go along with this whole arranged marriage thing? Is it what you want?"

Ranma shakes his head, his smile slipping just a bit. "No, it's not my idea at all, probably just another one of Pops ideas, and, well, don't take this the wrong way, but I like what I felt in you a bit better than what I felt in your sisters, other than that, I don't really know why I chose you, just call it….well, I don't know what to call it. Look, at least till we can talk our fathers out of this, we have to at least try to get along, right?" Ranma says with a bit of concern in his voice. Akane, not thinking about it, just nods. After a moment of silence, she realizes her mistake, again. "Yeah, till then, we can just, um, spar, right? Since…since neither of us is really looking for a fiancé right now, …right?" Akane says looking at the floor again. Ranma just nods at this "Yeah, not really looking just yet…." Then Ranma's stomach makes its vote heard again on what they should be doing right now. With that same lopsided grin Ranma turns towards Akane again "Well, lets get something to eat, I'm sure I could just follow my nose, but like I said before, I love running into walls and such as much as the next guy." Akane gives him a brief smile as she chuckles at this, and leads him back into the house. Glancing at him quickly she says "You know, if it wasn't for the whole engagement mess, I could almost get to like you, even if you are a boy." Ranma just nods at this, wondering why that fact that he is a boy matters.

The short walk back to the main room of the house is a silent one, with Akane studying him out of the corner of her eye, watching how he seems to glide along, his feet just barely leaving the floor, the smooth, graceful pace of his walking. She wonders about what just happened, how a blind…boy…could beat her. And why she was not angrier about it. If any other boy had beaten her, she knew she would be panicking right now, but there is just something…different about him. She can see his rather cocky smile, and already learning he can be a bit arrogant. But still. There is just something about him, about the way he talks and moves that is not like what she expects from someone who is crippled like he is. There is a confidence to his walk, perhaps even arrogance, something she sees in boy's everyday. There was something different about how he carries himself, though. She had heard stories about blind martial art masters, but they were always older men, true masters of their arts. Never had she met a blind man, and trying not to go by what she was always taught about someone who is impaired like him was not easy. She watches him silently, not knowing that, in his own way, he is scrutinizing her just as much.

'Man, what have I gotten myself into now? She seems like she really was fighting me back there, not just letting me beat her. I can tell that she is nervous about something, just not what. How do I let my father get me into these things?' Ranma thinks to himself as he is guided along back towards the main room. Already he can smell the food that is being set out on the table. To say the smell is delicious is an understatement, a lot better than the stuff he usually eats while they are on the road. 'Well, maybe there is something good coming out of this, besides having someone to spar with. That food smells really good.' Ranma thinks to himself as they move into the main hall, the silence that greats them thick enough to be cut with a knife.

"Well, you made it just in time for supper, you two, Ranma, would you like to sit next to Akane?" Kasumi politely asks him, as she hesitantly holds her hand out towards him. "I can lead you there, if you would like?" Ranma just shakes his head, feeling Akane release her grip on his arm. "I'll just follow her, if that is ok with you, Akane?" Akane looks uncomfortable for a moment, then just nods, looking even more nervous, and says to him quietly "sure, that's fine."

Ranma can hear the slight uncomfortable waver in her voice, made only worse by the fact that her father seems to be crying, sobbing something about how his little baby is going to be a wife now. Ranma gets a stern look on his face, then looks down, and sighs " Akane, it is your decision. I will leave it to you, and only you, if you don't want this, I won't hold you to it." Both Genma and Soun break into loud protests at this, stating "It's a matter of honor!" and "The schools MUST be united!" With this Ranma rises up from where he is sitting next to Akane and glares at them both, "No, I will not be forced into this, and neither will she! It is OUR choice, not yours! I don't care what kind of stupid promise you two might have made over some bottle of sake, I will not let you ruin both of our lives!"

Ranma angrily walks back towards the sliding doors, following the sound of the koi pond out back, his hand held carefully in front of him, stopping when he finally reaches the paper screen of the back wall. The room sits in silence as he slowly reaches out, slides his hand along the door till he finds the opening, and slides the door open, and then shut behind him. Genma rises to his feet, bellowing "You lousy ingrate of a boy! How dare you walk away from your father, and our hosts! Don't you have any manners or respect at all!" Ranma's response through the door is simple, and to the point "Yeah, all the manners and respect you taught me, pops."

Genma turns to Soun, and says apologetically "I'm sorry bout the boy, he has no manners, and no respect for his elders. I know he will do what is expected of him. He's just being a stubborn boy right now, he will see that we are right, and that he needs someone to take care of him. He is blind, so it's not like he has a lot of prospects." Akane rises at this, her fists clenched at her side "Daddy! How can you let him talk about his own son like that? Sure, he is blind, but…He is also a very good fighter…(better than me, even)..and he deserves some respect for that. And he is right…it is OUR choice, not yours!" With this, she storms out after Ranma, not being quiet at all, slamming the door shut behind her.

She sees Ranma standing by the koi pond, his head rolled back, letting the moonlight spill onto his upturned face. Without looking over towards her, he says softly. "you know, you didn't have to do that. I'm not going to hold you to this stupid engagement. I think its just one of Pop's schemes to make his life easier. Believe me, I've seen enough of those to know one when I see one. He was always figuring out some way he could dump me somewhere so he could take off for a while. He always claimed it was some 'special training' for me. I knew the real reason, though. He just didn't want to take care of his stupid cripple of a son." Akane was shocked by the disgust in his tone, in how sad he looked, and most of all, by how his father had treated his own son. "I…I can't believe anyone would do something like that. What did you mean, when you said he would dump you?" Ranma just sighs as he says "Well, there was the temple in Tokyo, the one in Kyoto, that old lady in Osaka, the list of temples and holy places I got dropped off at for a few months never seemed to end, then he would show up, take me away again to another place. Some of them were kinda nice…others were not. Some of them I learned a lot at, you know? Not that I think that was what Pops intended…except maybe that one village…"

Akane gives him a look, not quite sure what to think of him. With a sigh, he turns away from her and says "Well, I don't know about you, but I think it is time to get some rest. Do you mind showing me where I can get some sleep?" Akane just nods for a moment, then takes his arm and leads him back towards the house, still trying to figure out why she is not pummeling him, since all boys are the same….aren't they?.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters part or parcel of that great work, nor lay claim to any of the incredible ideas expressed by Rumiko Takahashi, or Viz video. This is just a labor of love from one fan to the rest.

Only the blind truly see, part 2

Morning came to the Tendo residence with the usual sounds, someone taking a bath; Kasumi's soft humming from the kitchen, and the sounds of combat echoing from the back yard. "Listen here, old man, I don't care what you think! My decision on this is final; you are not going to force us into anything! Isn't it enough that we are going along with this stupid idea of yours? Why do you have to try and rush things even more!" Ranma says to his father in a less than happy tone of voice. Genma just growls a bit, as he continues to spar with his son "Listen here, you ungrateful whelp! It is your duty to carry on the school, and it's not like you can really be picky, you know. You should just be glad that even with your problem they are even still considering the idea!" Genma grouches at his son, as they kick the sparring match up to the next level, with leaps and throws becoming part of the battle. The sparring match continues on, the insults only getting worse as they continue on, till at last Ranma catches Genma off guard and heaves him into the koi pond. The match is interrupted by Kasumi calling out "Breakfast!" They stop fighting, as Genma walks back into the house, followed by Ranma.

Breakfast is an interesting sight in the Tendo house today, as Genma and Ranma fight over the food, and Akane gives them both a strange look. "What exactly are you two doing?" Akane asks, as they get into a particularly vicious fight over some noodles. "Speed training." Is Genma's only response, as his attention is drawn away for just a moment, a moment too long for the noodles in question, as Ranma quickly finishes the last bit of noodles.

"I see, so everything is training! That is a wonderful idea!" Soun says with tears in his eyes "Oh, your dedication to training is wonderful!" Nabiki just rolls her eyes at this, as she stands up and heads back to her room. Kasumi looks at Ranma and Akane and says softly "You two had better hurry up, or you are going to be later for school." Akane looks at the clock, eats one last bite of her breakfast, and grabs Ranma "Come on! If we don't hurry, we aren't going to make it in time!" Ranma hardly has time to have his bag and bento handed to him as Akane drags him out the door and down the sidewalk.

Ranma lets this go on for a short time and then grumbles "can we slow down, unless you want me to plow into anything and anyone in the way." Akane gives him a brief look, then slows down, as he pulls out his stick and starts tapping back and forth rapidly. Akane seems to get more and more anxious as they get closer and closer to the school. He can tell she is getting more and more anxious and frustrated as they get closer to the school, until finally she starts to break into a rapid jog. He keeps up with her for a bit, until she growls out "I HATE BOYS!" and breaks into a run. Up ahead, he can hear the sounds of many young men rushing out of the school screaming battle cries….and declarations of love?

Ranma stops, and listens in amazement as Akane meets the horde of young men head on. There are loud cries of pain, and the sounds of people being pummeled, kicked, and punched. He can follow the path of the fight by the cries of pain and love that still echo throughout the confrontation. The screams of pain and suffering slowly begin to ebb, being replaced by the occasional whimper, and the moans of the unconscious. As it finally dies down, Ranma steps up next to a panting Akane and asks "What exactly was all that about? Does this happen often around here?" Akane grumbles under her breath as she pushes her hair back out of her face "Every morning, ever since HE made that stupid declaration…." At this point, her speed gets interrupted by a rose flying through the air, being caught without a thought by the young lady as a taller boy steps out from behind the tree he had been leaning against during the entire fight "Ah! My fierce tigress, as always, these lesser men seek to tame thy wild spirit, but in vain! Oh, your fierceness is too much for them, they doth wither and fall in the heat of your passion! But now, I shall let you fight me, and if you win, I will let you date me! If fate decides that it is I who am to be the victor, then I shall give you the great honor and pleasure of dating me!" The strange young man says in a haughty voice, as he strikes a ready stance, only then noticing the young man standing next to the object of his obsession. "Who are you, Peasant, to be so close and familiar with the fair Akane Tendo! Speak now, or know the righteous wrath of heaven!" He says in an imperious tone. "Well, my name is…." Ranma begins, only to be interrupted.

"Oh, of course, where are my manners, it is customary to introduce oneself first! My name is Tatewaki Kuno, age 17, the rising star of Kendo, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan high!" At this, the earth is shook by the rumble of thunder in the distance. Ranma drops into a ready stance " My name is Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome School of Anything-goes martial arts, and I accept your challenge!" Ranma tosses his head back, his stance loose and ready. Kuno looks at him for a moment, and then scoffs "Is this some sort of joke? Did you know you are blind? I can not fight a defenseless cripple, that honor is there in that! Now go, and be gone from my sight, and never bother the fair Akane again!" after spouting off this last bit, he turns his attention away from Ranma and back towards Akane "Now, my beautiful lily, where were we? Oh yes, glorious battle so that you can date me!" Ranma shakes in anger for a moment, before lashing out, his foot stopping just in front of Kuno's face. "Did I ever say that I was not going to fight you? Or are you afraid of a blind man beating you?" Kuno gives him a disdainful look before turning his attention back fully on Ranma. "Let it now be said that Tatewaki Kuno is not a generous man, and did not give this misguided cripple a chance to back down. Now, you shall face the righteous justice of the heavens, as you surely have before to loose your sight in the first place!"

With this, Kuno launches into a quick series of strikes, which Ranma slides around, the speed and ferocity of Kuno's attack totally different from his seeming reluctance of mere moments before. Ranma finds himself dodging the flurry of strikes, his opponents Chi clearly stating what his intention is, flowing out before each of his strikes like the sea rolling in. Ranma quickly darts his hand forward, making contact with his opponent as he begins using the sticky hands to counter each of his opponent's moves. As the fight progresses, he can tell him opponents blows just keep getting faster and harder, even starting to destroy the walls and trees they are fighting in front of. Ranma lets himself slide into the rhythm of the fight, and then begins to strike faster and faster at his opponent, using the speed he picked up during his training. His fists and feet begin to blur slightly as he begins to land strike after strike on Kuno, the realization that Kuno has no regard for anything, or anyone, else quickly sinking in as he can hear the crazed kendoists strikes shattering concrete and the trees behind Ranma as he dodges blow after blow.

With a grim look of determination, Ranma seems to vanish for a moment as he moves inside of Kunos range, and begins to pummel him rapidly, his foot flashing up Kuno's body from his lower abdomen to where his path ends on his forehead. Kuno stagger back for a moment before saying in a pompous tone "Is that all you can do! I, Tatewaki Kuno shall never….fall….before….." whatever he was about to say is lost, as he slips into the blessed silence of unconsciousness.

Akane looks at Ranma, who is standing there, his clothes looking a little ragged around the edges from some of the closer calls he had before she says "I could have handled him, I fight that nut case every morning, and I don't need YOU to fight him for me!" With this, she just grumbles, hesitates for a moment, then says "come on, we are going to be late, it wouldn't do to be late on your first day of school" Ranma just nods, as he recovers his walking stick and follows her inside.

Ranma was a bit nervous, he had not really been in a class for quite some time, not since that time in Kyoto when he had attended the all boy's school. Now, here he was, standing in front of a new class, and he could not help wondering what they thought of him. Would they be willing to accept him, as he was? He knew that he projected an air of overwhelming confidence, but the truth was that, deep inside, he couldn't help but be worried just a bit. He knew that people in Japan, especially the more traditional ones, would see his blindness as some sort of divine punishment. He had run into that often enough before. But there was something about Akane, even if she could be a violent wrecking ball when the situation arose, that gave him some measure of hope.

His attention is brought back to the matter at hand as the teacher introduces him to the class, telling them that he has been on a long training trip, and will now be attending their class. He puts on his most confident smile as the teacher tells him to go sit next to Miss Tendo. He can hear the uncomfortable pause as she realizes that he won't be able to find the way on his own. After a moment, she asks if he would like her to help him to his desk. Ranma just shakes his head, and says "No, I can find it on my own, as long as you don't mind if Akane speaks for just a moment, ok?" The teacher looks uncertain at this, but then agrees. Akane hesitates for a moment, then say "I'm over here." Ranma just nods, then flips his stick out as he taps his way to the desk, pausing for a moment to find the chair before sitting down. The teacher just watches in silence for a minute, then starts the class.

Ranma did his best to pay attention,but when you can't see what the teacher is writing, or read the book, since they didn't have any in brail for him as of yet, there just is only so much you can do. After the second time that the teacher caught him spacing off, she sent him out to stand in the hall with the buckets. That was slightly awkward, seeing as he had to have Akane lead him out to the hall. So far, another great first impression. He was doing his best to listen to the class from the hall, as he heard a mighty shout of rage and indignation roll down the hall, as one of the doors farther down the hall burst open.

"I will not allow this! This is an affront to all that is right!" The crazed kendoist looks back and forth down the hall, before spying Ranma standing in the hall. He strikes an imposing stance (completely lost on Ranma, of course) and yells "Foul sorcerer! I will not allow it! I will not allow your engagement to the fair Akane! You, who bear the divine judgment of the heavens! This I will not allow!" At his outburst, the doors and windows up and down the hall burst open, as students pour out into the hall, including one very irate Akane, who was none to happy at this newest turn of events. People immediately started converging on Akane and Ranma, trying to dig up the details as Kuno fumes louder and louder, before striking yet another impressive pose and stating "This I can not allow, I shall not see the fair Akane saddled with a useless being such as you!" At this declaration, he rushes to the attack!

Ranma couldn't believe that this was happening, first, the fight this morning, then being kicked out of the class, now being challenged once again by this nut job. He dodges out of the way quickly as the crowd is dispersed by people diving out of the way and fleeing before the onslaught of strikes. He leaps backward as he tosses the buckets at his attacker, hearing as they are slashed in half with a wooden sword. He shakes his head, as he tries to maneuver down the hall, trying to find some room to move. He knows he needs to get them outside, but they are on the third floor, and leaping out a window when you are blind just does not work too well. As he leaps backward once again, he almost trips over another bucket left out in the hall by one of the spectators now trailing behind the melee that was rolling down the hall. Sudden inspiration strikes Ranma as he snatches up the bucket, fades back before one of his opponents blows, and darts back in, once again sliding inside of his guard as he firmly deposits the bucket over his battle crazed opponent, the sudden darkness giving him the chance to end this.

"Katsuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma calls out as his hands become a blur, blow after blow landing into the stunned kendoist, the bucket shattering under the barrage of blows. After a moment, the black and blue Thunder of Furinkan High slides down the wall, pummeled into a blissful oblivion. The hall becomes completely silent, as the other students watch in stunned silence as Ranma reaches down, and checks his opponent over. "You might want to take him to the nurse, I think he will be feeling that one later" Ranma states as he flicks out his stick and starts walking back towards the spot he was occupying until just recently.

"Did you see that?" was the general statement, in one form or another stated by most of the people in the hall, as they watched Ranma calmly walk back to his spot, and resume standing there, waiting for permission to re-enter the class room. In a few minutes, most of the signs of the brief battle in the hall were all cleaned up, including the unconscious upperclassman. Ranma is allowed to re-enter the classroom after a bit, and things continue on in relative silence. At least, relative for Furinkan high, with only Akane being bombarded with notes asking about the young man sitting next to her.

Akane softly asks " What exactly was that back there? I have never seen a technique like that before, where did you learn it? I don't think that is part of Anything Goes, or at least not a part I have ever seen." Ranma just sighs softly and says "I guess I can tell you during lunch, if that is ok?" Akane just nods, as they both try to turn there attention back to the class at hand.

In another part of Tokyo, a young man in travel worn clothes is walking aimlessly about, asking the occasional person for directions and then promptly going in the exact opposite direction. "Ranma, I will find you! No matter how far I must travel, I will find you!" He states in a serious tone, before looking around and noticing that he is no longer walking along a sidewalk, now he seems to be standing in the middle of a dense patch of woods. He bares his oddly large canines as he sets his shoulders and continues on, his eyes set on the road ahead, no matter how winding.

Ryoga had not given up on finding Ranma, nor would he ever, no matter how long the journey. No matter how far he must travel, it would not stop him. There were too many debts left unpaid, too much history to be reconciled. No, there could be no rest till he found Ranma. He never even noticed the school behind him, where a certain pig-tailed martial artist was trying to decide exactly what to tell his fiancé about his past, at least what he thought he could tell her.

The rest of the class went fairly quietly, the students seemed somewhat subdued after what had happened to Kuno. Akane keeps glancing over at Ranma, a thoughtful look on her face as he seems lost in his thoughts. Time seems to drag on, the teacher lecturing the class, the class for the most part watching the newest addition to the population of Furinkan High, and said new addition trying to pay attention while being distracted by his thoughts.

It seemed like forever before they broke for lunch, the students filing out to the commons and forming up into one group or another. Akane, after a moments thought, leads Ranma over to her favorite spot under one of the larger tress, and sits down, tucking her skirt self-consciously under her legs. Ranma slides down the tree, getting himself comfortable, as he finished putting his thoughts in order. "So, you want to know about what happened up there, huh?" Ranma asks her after a few minutes of silence. Akane starts to nod, then gets a sheepish grin on her face before replying "Yes, I would like to know, I haven't ever seen anything like that, you said something in….Chinese?...and then the next thing I know, Kuno is getting beaten like a wall out in a hail storm. What exactly was that?"

Ranma thinks about it for a moment, and makes a decision 'I might as well tell her some of it, after all, even if we don't go through with this stupid engagement, it would be nice to have at least one friend around here, and if she doesn't freak out over this, then who knows? She has some potential, and it would be nice to have a sparring partner around here.' " Ok, I guess I have to start a while back. My father was notorious for bouncing us around, moving from one area to another, always trying to improve the training. Believe me, he had some pretty stupid ideas in that area, at least he gave up on some of the stranger training grounds, they just aren't practical when you can't see. Well, anyway, during one of the times he left me at a temple outside of Hong Kong for 'training', I met this monk, Tao Yan Xian, he was a master of Tai Chi, and he showed me some of the more advanced blind-fighting techniques. That was one of the most educational times in my life. He was one heck of a teacher, and always was so understanding. It was kinda hard to relate to him at first, after how pops did things." Ranma says, obviously lost deep in his thoughts. "Well, I trained under him for several months, till Pops made another appearance. Master Xian told me about the village where he had grown up, and the person who had started his own training. He never really told me why he had left, but I figured it out on my own, eventually. He said that I was one of the best students he had taught, and that perhaps I was good enough to learn from his Grandmother. I didn't really appreciate what he was offering me till after we had left, and I talked pops into following the directions on Xian's note. It took us awhile, but eventually we made our way into the very heart of China, in a place that was about as far from everywhere as you could go and still be somewhere."

"It was a quaint little village, if you don't mind women who REALY know what they want. Chinese amazons, to be exact. Turns out that Master Xian is related to one of the elders. Usually, men showing up there leads to bad things….for the man. But with the letter of recommendation, they offered to let me stay. Told pops to make himself scarce for a month, and then they would decide whether I would be trained or not. That was one of the roughest months of my life, and one of the best. It took me awhile to realize that, though. I have never been worked so hard in all my life, made Pops on one of his training fits seem rather mild. It must have paid off, since when pops showed up a month later, they told him in no uncertain tones that I would be staying for a while. That while turned out to be six months." Ranma pauses for a minute, letting his mind wander back to that time, as Akane just watches him, letting all of that soak in.

"So, a bunch of amazons took you in? Is this some kind of joke? I mean, there aren't really amazons up in China, are there?" Akane asks him, half expecting him to start laughing about pulling one over on her, instead, he just gets a serious look on his face as he continues his story.

"Rest assured, Elder Khu Lon is real, I think I still have the bruises to prove it. Who knows, you might get the chance to meet Grandmother someday, I know that after talking to me, they were thinking about making some contact with the outer world. Something about good blood out there. I am just lucky that I had special arrangements, or my life would be a lot more complicated right now. A lot more complicated. I seem to be wandering off topic, though. One of the things that I learned while living with the amazons was the Chestnut Fist. Not one of the more fun things to be trained in, trust me. Nothing like reaching into a roaring fire to pluck chestnuts out to teach you speed."

Akane just gaped at him a bit at that, not able to believe anyone would stick there hand in a fire, much less try and grab chestnuts out of one. But the serious look on Ranma's face made her want to believe him, and it might explain why she didn't quite feel the need to put him with the rest of the perverts and give him a good malleting. If he spent time with amazons, they would have killed your typical male pervert, right? "Ok, I will try and believe you, just it isn't easy, no offense, but stories about Chinese amazons having you pluck nuts out of a fire seem a bit far fetched."

Ranma just grins that lopsided grin at her, and nods. "That is fine, you will either believe me or not, but if you meet the Elder or Xian Pu, don't say I didn't warn you." With this, Ranma quickly finishes his food, before standing up.

Outside, a travel worn figure looks around, trying to figure out where he is, absently holding a bamboo umbrella loosely over one shoulder. He looks over at one of the students milling by the front gate and asks "Do you know where Furinkan High is?" The student just looks at him puzzled for a moment, before looking over at the sign that clearly said 'Furinkan High' before turning back and say "Yes, you are standing in the gates right now." With that, the student makes some quick time away from the rather strange young man. The young man in question just gives a toothy grin and says "Finally! Ranma, I have found you!" with that, he starts wandering in the general direction of the commons, by way of the soccer field, the cafeteria, the track, and the gym, before arriving at the commons just as a black-haired young man rises to relieve some of the tension that had built up during the talk with his fiancé.

The relative peace and quiet of the commons is rent asunder by the sudden shout of the strange young man "Ranma! At last I have found you!" As he rushes towards the rather startled young man by the name of Ranma Saotome.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters part or parcel of that great work, nor lay claim to any of the incredible ideas expressed by Rumiko Takahashi, or Viz video. This is just a labor of love from one fan to the rest.

Only the blind truly see: part 3

Ranma jumped in surprise, hearing a voice that he was really not expecting to hear. He tensed himself, trying to get himself ready for what was to come. That voice, those words, and the ominous rumbling of the ground as the young man came charging onwards come mean only one thing….Ryouga Hibiki was here.

Ryouga could not believe his luck, here was the person he had been looking for, just in front of him, and if he would stop jumping around so much, he would be to him in just a few seconds more. The lost boy barreled his way towards his target, zigging and zagging towards him like an out of control freight train, before the inevitable happened.

Ryouga skids to a halt in front of Ranma before grabbing his hand and shaking it vigorously. Ranma grins that lopsided grin of his as he say "It's good to see ya too, what are you doing here, anyhow? I kinda figured you would be busy for a while." Ryouga blushes a bit at this, and just stammers for a moment. Ranma starts laughing, as he chokes out "Oh…..let me guess…she doesn't know you left? What happened, sent you to get some water, or maybe some vegetables?" Ranma can't stop laughing as Ryouga looks even more embarrassed. "Just to let you know, no, it wasn't water or some vegetables, she sent me to open the windows. How was I supposed to know that the windows were in Osaka?" Ryouga says in a perfectly serious tone of voice. At this Ranma just falls on the ground laughing so hard.

Akane watches all of this, looking even more puzzled by the moment. After a few more minutes of Ranma's laughing, he finally gets a grip on himself, and his mirth dies down. After sitting back up, Ranma grins in Ryouga's direction as he nods towards Akane. "Akane, meet my old pal Ryouga Hibiki, Ryouga, meet Akane Tendo. She is part of the reason that I had to leave like I did, I hope that they were not too upset…."

Ryouga just grins and shakes his head, looking Akane over "No, it's ok, I'm sure that they understand. I just wish I had been able to see you off." Ryouga looks over at Akane again "So, you are the reason that Genma dragged Ranma off, huh? Should have known he was up to something."

Akane just looks back and forth between the two, noticing the grins plastered on both of their faces. She thinks about what they have said for a minute, then asks "Ranma, are there going to be more of your old friends just dropping in on you? I thought for a moment he was going to attack you, you do seem to have that affect on people from time to time." Akane is confused a bit when both of them start to laugh at this, Ranma's a deep, rolling laugh, Ryouga's a lot more nervous.

"Well, Ryouga would know all about jumping to the wrong conclusion about things, and the problems that can arise from that, right?" Ranma says between laughs, as Ryouga looks even more uncomfortable. "How was I supposed to know that you two were sparring, I mean, I come wandering in after getting lost on my way home, and there is my old friend Ranma looking like he was on the receiving end of a beating from some overly violent girl. I only did what any good friend would do…." Ryouga gets cut off as Ranma interjects "Yeah, get engaged to their sparring partner!"

Akane looks even more puzzled at this, as Ryouga looks even more embarrassed than before. "Do you think you could explain exactly what is going on here? I cant help but feel I am missing out on a lot of things." Ranma collects himself a bit more, turning towards Ryouga for a moment. "Sure, might as well, its not like I have any pride left or anything, right Ranma?" Ryouga grumbles, but the grin on his face ruins the whole effect of being grumpy about it.

Ranma sits back down, collecting his thoughts again before he began.

"Well, I guess it all began when I started attending that all boys school in Kyoto. I have been blind for a couple of years by that point, and was starting to learn how to deal with things a bit better, but I still had problems with some things, and I was still trying to get the hang of brail and such. Not the easiest thing to learn when you spend most of your time on the road. Well, the school was competitive, to put it mildly. Everything was a competition, especially meals. At the meals, they had only a limited amount of the best things, and it was whoever got it, got it. Man, those got ugly at times. Well, I didn't exactly do too well at that, at times. It was about the third day in the row that I got shoved out of the way, and just missed some of the really good bread, that I ran into a certain brick wall named Hibiki. I never knew what possessed him, but he gave me his own loaf of bread. Ryouga might get depressed at times about things, but deep down, he has a heart of gold. After that, we just kept running into each other, especially since he has one major problem. He has the worse sense of direction in the world, and don't even try to deny it, bud. He could get lost in a room with only one door and no windows. Darnedest thing you will ever see. But anyhow, after I figured out his problem, I offered to help him. I did not know what I was getting myself into. We always seemed to end up somewhere else than where we were headed to. Ryouga has a great sense of mis-direction."

Ranma grins again before continuing "Well, Ryouga and I had a lot of good times together, and a lot of fun. Before Pops dragged me off again, we promised that we would be there for each other if we were ever in trouble. And that is what lead Ryouga into the very heart of trouble. You see, after I was allowed to stay with the tribe, I was adopted into it, so that I could be trained without the risk of having to marry my training partner. You see, the Amazons have many ancient traditions, one of which is that any male that can beat an Amazon is to marry her. It's a good way to ensure that the strongest fighters have strong children. By adopting me into the family, I was exempt from that law, as long as I only beat my adopted family. It might seem odd, but it worked. It was actually Master Xian's idea. He didn't want me to end up in the same mess that had made him leave in the first place. Anyway, this knucklehead (pointing his thumb in Ryouga's direction) saw me and Xian Pu sparring, with me mostly trying to get better at sensing an opponents actions, and took it the wrong way. Next thing we know, there is a loud crash as he enters the fight. Now, Xian Pu has never been one to back down from a fight, but Ryouga here is a force of nature when it comes to one of his friends. The fight was over before I could even really say anything, and next thing you know, Ryouga here is getting the kiss of marriage! Man, I have never heard anyone as pissed off as Mu Tsu was over that one. I wish I could have seen the look on Ryouga's face when she gave you that kiss, eh? Bet it was something to see!" At this, Ranma falls over laughing again, Ryouga looks even more sheepish, and a slightly stunned Akane just tries to let all of this sink in.

Ryouga grumbles a bit more at this, before finally saying "Now, you know that the only reason she did that is because it was expected of her, its not like either of us really wanted that to happen. And I just couldn't let her take the fall for this, you know what would have happened to her if I had run off, or what would have happened to me, for that sake. All I can say is that I am glad I was not a girl. I never want to be on the receiving end of the Kiss of Death." Akane looks even more puzzled at all of this. Noting like having your idea of what is normal just tossed out of the window on an hourly basis.

"So, besides your wandering feet, is there anything else that brought you here from China, old buddy?" Ranma asks, as Ryouga begins to dig through his backpack. After a few minutes of rummaging, he pulls out a sealed scroll bearing Khu Lon's personal seal on it. He hand it to Ranma, who slowly slides it open, running his fingers over the brail letter inside. "Khu Lon gave that too me, and said if I should happen to see you, to give this message to you. How did she know that I was going to be seeing you anytime soon, anyhow?" Ryouga mused softly. Ranma just shakes his head as he says "Believe me, you learn quick enough not too wonder how she knows half the stuff she knows, and a quarter of the stuff that you think she knows. Its a lot easier that way. And leads to a lot less headaches."

Ranma pauses for a moment, before re-reading that last section again. " They are coming here, next month. They are planning on opening a restaurant, Kho Lon thinks it would be an excellent chance for Xian Pu to see some more of the world, and to get away from Msu Tsu till he can come to accept that this is how things are. I really do feel for him, he has it bad for Xian Pu." Ryouga nods at this " Believe me, I know just how he feels, he tells me right before he tries to skewer me. It's not my fault that this has happened!"

Ranma just nods at this and looks at his old friend. "We need to get into class, think you can wait for use here? Do you still carry that cord with you?" Ryouga just nods, and brings out a small spool of thick silk cord. Ranma turns toward Akane and asks " Akane, why don't you just go on in, I will be up in just a minute, just gotta help Ryouga with this for a moment, ok?" Akane nods, and walks back into the school. As soon as she is gone, Ryouga looks over at Ranma and says "So this is the girl you are engaged to? She is really cute, you know. And that smile…wow…." Ryouga is brought out of his thoughts with a quick punch in the shoulder." I will just have to take your word on whether she is pretty or not, and I don't think you should even be thinking thoughts like that. I am pretty sure Xian Pu would skin you alive if she even thought you were going after another woman, and I don't even want to think what Grandmother would do to you….Can you imagine spending the rest of your life as a dog, horse, or pig?" Ranma shudders at that thought, and the one that went unspoken. Ranma sighs heavily, and quickly binds one end of the cord around the tree, and the other around Ryouga's wrist.

"I will see you after class! We have so much to catch up on! See ya soon!" with that, Ranma heads back to his class, a bit more bounce in his step.

The rest of the classes went rather quietly that day, compared to all the earlier excitement. Akane sighs as yet another note is passed to her, asking about Ranma. Ranma, for his part, just tries to ignore the questions that are whispered to him about Akane. This pattern continues on till the last bell sounds for the day. As soon as they leave the room, both of them are assaulted by questions about how long they have been together, how they met, and other such questions that are vital fare for a good gossip. Ranma does his best not too look too embarrassed by some of the guys questions, while Akane just goes into a slow boil. This continues on till Akane looses her world-renowned temper and proceeds to scream "This is NOT our choice! It's just what our fathers set up! I only met Ranma yesterday!...Now, Leave us alone!" This seems to serve for driving off the majority of the questioners, the rest leave after receiving a rather frosty look from Akane. Ranma just remains quiet through all of this, seemingly lost in thought.

As they leave the building, some would claim that Nabiki was giving Ranma a rather speculative look, but, as everyone knows, that could not be the case. She is called the Ice-Queen of Furinkan for a reason.

Ranma and Akane make there way out to where they had left Ryoga previously. The young man in question was still where they had left him, still tied to the tree, and looking through a collection of photos. He looks up at them as they approach, Akane leading slightly, with Ranma following a bit to the right of her. He gives them a speculative look, looking back and forth between a picture and the pair approaching, before quickly putting the pictures back as they approach. He rises to his feet, stretching his back and working his shoulders out. He unties the cord, and spools it back up, before taking a few steps towards the pair.

"Here I thought you had forgotten me, buddy. Of course, with a cute girl like that, I could understand that." Ryoga says with a smile, and looks confused at the dark look he gets from Akane.

"No, not like I could forget you, I could just follow the smell if I wanted to. Sorry 'bout the delay, but I never thought class would end." Ranma replies with a grin, having missed Akane's dark look, but still picking up on the brief flare of hot anger she gave off.

Akane just glared at Ryoga for a minute before turning on her heel, her long, bluish-black hair flipping out behind her. "Come on, you two, we should get home. Are you going to be stopping by later, Ryoga?" She said in some attempt at being civil, even if she was starting to class him with the rest of the male half of the species. At least Ranma didn't make stupid comments about how pretty she was. All that the rest of them wanted was to find some way into her pants, or at least she was sure that was it. Wasn't that what all boys wanted?

Ryoga just sighs, and looks down, the depression showing in his eyes, as he starts to turn away and wander off. Ranma quickly reaches out and snags him by the shirt, as he turns towards Akane, for just a moment, an almost pleading look on his face.

"Akane, you know, it's been a while since I last saw Ryoga, do you think Kasumi would mind having him come over for dinner?" Ranma says to her, still keeping a grip on Ryoga.

Akane only pauses for a moment, remembering the look she thought she saw on Ranma's face, even if only for a moment. She nods as she says "Yes, that should be fine, I'm sure Kasumi would enjoy having another person over for dinner."

Ranma gives her a grateful look, before turning back to his old friend "Come on, we had better hurry, you don't want to miss Kasumi's cooking, it is something else!" Ranma says as he pulls him up alongside himself, and begins catching up on old times and missed experiences with him.

Akane just wonders about this for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders and leading them both towards her house. Akane's temper begins to cool, listening to their mis-adventures, even if she was sure some of them had to be over-exaggerations. After all, there was no way half that stuff could ever happen, right?

To say that the meal that night was lively is an understatement, with Ranma and Genma fighting over the food, the fact that Ryoga managed to get lost twice during dinner, and then Akane saying that she was thinking about making supper for everyone tomorrow night. This last statement caused a look of fear to cross Soun and Nabiki's faces as they quickly make up excuses why that would not be necessary. Ranma has a puzzled look during this whole exchange, and it only gets more puzzled as Akane gets up and storms out in a huff.

"Why didn't you want to have Akane cook supper tomorrow night? I'd think that Kasumi would like to have the break from cooking all the time, you know?" Ranma barely finishes his comment before he is given a series of worried looks that he completely misses.

"Well, you see, its like this, " Nabiki begins" Akane might be a relatively nice, caring girl. Bur her cooking, it is downright dangerous."

"what, you mean that the food she makes is bad?" Ranma asks "How bad could it be, really? If she was taught by Kasumi, or your mother, then how bad could it be?"

At this Kasumi speaks up "Akane tries real hard, its just that, she makes little mistakes here and there, and seems to get things mixed up from time to time, making her food a bit, daring, for most."

Ranma just scratches his head at this, and decides to get the answers the direct way, but first things first. He turns towards Soun as he asks "Would it be ok for my friend Ryoga to stay here tonight? It is getting kinda late, and I don't want him to have to try and find his way home in the dark."

Soun thinks about this for a moment, before nodding and saying "Yes that should be fine, he can sleep up in the guest room with you and your father, then, for tonight."

Ranma nods, and grins that lopsided grin of his, before turning towards Ryoga and saying "Here, let me show you to the room, then I need to go practice a bit, but I suggest you get some sleep, I am looking forward to a good workout in the morning."

Ryoga nods as he rises up, and helps guide Ranma as he leads them to the guest room, only getting mildly lost on the way twice. After leaving his wayward friend behind, Ranma follows the sounds of cinder blocks meeting there early demise towards the dojo and his fiancé. Ranma pauses just outside of the door, listening to her mutterings as she reduces block after block to a fine powder. After listening to her for a few minutes, he slides the doors open and walks in, completely throwing her focus off.

Akane glares at him for a moment, then remembers that her glares will have no real effect on him, so she settles for being silent for a minute before she asks the question that has been bothering her "Why didn't you just send him home, did you really miss your 'old friend' so much?"

Ranma shakes his head for a minute before sighing and saying "Look, with Ryoga, its just better this way, yes, I missed him, he is the one real friend I ever had, and also, I was not kidding about his bad sense of direction. He hasn't seen his folks for a while, or even been home, for that matter. Whether he will admit it or not, he needs to have people to take care of him, which is why Xian Pu is good for him, he needs to be needed, and taken care of. Even if she is a bit possessive at times, she is actually really nice to him when she wants to be, mind you, I am glad I am not in his shoes, I don't really want to be glomped by an Amazon on a daily basis, but I can see where it would be an advantage."

Akane thinks about this for a moment, then looks towards Ranma "You mean, he wasn't trying to hit on me? Or was he, even though he has a girl-friend already? I bet he was, since all boys are the same!"

Akane misses the hurt look that crosses Ranma's face for a moment, before he just gives an exasperated sigh and says "Look, Ryoga is the last guy in the world you have to worry about, I would be more likely to try and get a peep, and I am blind! About the only thing you would have to worry about if Ryoga got close to a girl is that he would pass out from the nosebleed. Believe me, has a few times when Xian Pu glomped him. Trust me, not all boys just want that, ok?"

Akane thinks about this for a moment, then sighs and says "Maybe you are right, maybe all boys aren't scum….just most of them. I will give the two of you the benefit of the doubt, at least till you prove me wrong." With this, she gets up and walks back towards the house itself, leaving Ranma once again in thought. 'Whew, I worked pretty hard out there, maybe I should take a bath before bed, that always helps me think' Akane thinks to herself as she goes to her room to get her supplies that she will need, not noticing the dark haired young man that also had the same thought, and has already made his way to the furo…..


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters part or parcel of that great work, nor lay claim to any of the incredible ideas expressed by Rumiko Takahashi, or Viz video. This is just a labor of love from one fan to the rest.

Only the blind truly see: part 4

Ranma was soaking in the furo, letting his mind wander over the events of the last few days, meeting Akane and her sisters, seeing Ryoga again, and the battles with Kuno. He was wondering what would happen next, and how things would change now. Things seemed so simpler when he was in China, even with all that odd things that happened there. At least there, he knew where he stood, and things were so clearly laid out, unlike here, where he had a fiancé that was sweet and caring one minute, and cold and violent another. No matter how hard he tried, she just didn't make sense to him, perhaps if he could get her to talk to him she would tell him what was going on.

At this same time, while Ranma was lost in his thoughts, the subject of his thoughts was approaching the furo. Akane was lost in thoughts of her own, as she walks towards the furo. 'Why is it that he confuses me so much, I don't understand it. I mean, he is a boy, right? And all boys are the same, they all just want to get in my pants. That is how things are, right? I mean, that is what I have always heard from the other girls. That all the boys just want one thing.' These were the thoughts on Akane's mind as she entered the outer room of the furo, and completely missed Ranma's clothes lying on the counter. She slowly strips out of her clothes, and grabs a towel. Her thoughts are interrupted as she enters the furo itself, and sees a rather startled Ranma sitting in the furo.

"AHHHHHH! A PERVERT!" Akane screams, as she turns to dash back out of the furo, stopping just long enough to grab up her towel she had let drop as she walked in.

Ranma curses under his breath as he slides out of the furo, snagging his towel up from where he had left it and whipping it around his waist as he rushes after Akane, following the sound of her bare feet on the tile. Her reaches towards her, and strikes a series of points along her back, then reaches out to catch her as she falls limply to the ground.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!" Akane screeches out angrily, her face turning brighter and brighter shades of rage with a mix of anger, frustration, and fear. No matter how hard she tried, she just could not make her body move. She couldn't fight off the tears anymore, as she was overwhelmed by the fear of what he would do to her now, after all, all boys are the same, aren't they?

Ranma gets a sad look on his face, as he listens to Akane, the heartbreak in her voice tearing at him. "Look, Akane, I wont hurt you, I just want to find out what is wrong. I don't want you to hurt like this. Why do you hate boys so much? Is it because of Kuno and the rest of the numbskull's at school? Ok, I will release you, just promise you wont run off, ok? I just want to talk, nothing else."

Akane glares at him before saying coldly "It's not like a have a choice in the matter, is it? Isn't that how boys work? It's all about taking control over everything, isn't it."

Ranma sighs as he reaches up and hits a few different spots on her back, undoing the shiatsu point he had triggered. Akane glares at him for a moment, then slapping him as her body unlocks.

"Well, does that make you feel better? Or do you need to hit me again? If you are done, then how about we talk about what is going on? I don't know about you, but I think that it is about time we get things cleared up, one way or another." Ranma says in as mild tone as he can. "And if anyone is a pervert, it would be you, it's not like I saw anything, unlike you."

Akane clenches her fists for a moment before slowly unclenching her fists. "Fine, I'll talk to you. After all, you have all the power here, just like all the rest of the boys like it!"

Ranma gets an angry look on his face at this latest outburst of hers "Now listen here, I haven't done anything to you, have I? What can I do to get you to drop this whole 'hate all men' thing you have against me? What is it that scares you so much that you lash out like that?"

Akane tries to fight back the tears, but she just can't any longer, the situation she finds herself in tearing at the walls she has erected over the years to protect herself from getting hurt. "After Kuno's declaration, all the boys have been trying to beat me, so that they can date me. And if they are strong enough to beat me, then I can't stop them from doing whatever they want to me, and that scares me more than anything. I don't even want to think what would happen if Kuno beat me, who knows what he would do to me then. That is why I hate all of them so much, why I can't let any boy be stronger than me. I have to be strong, so that I don't have to worry about that happening to me, like it has to other girls. I won't be reduced to a broken shell like they were, and the only way to do that is to be strong!" Akane says in a rush, her tears running down her face, as she clenches the towel around herself.

Ranma gets an angry look on his face, as what she has said settles in "Anyone that would try that deserves to suffer, it is the duty of the strong to protect those that are weaker, not to force themselves on them." Ranma's fist clenches tight at these thoughts, his anger clear on his face. He fights to regain his calm, as he tries to figure out what to do about all of this. "You want to get stronger, so that you don't have to worry about this, and I would like it if you would trust me, even just a bit. If we do go through with this engagement, I don't want to be suffering for it, and I don't think you do either. And how things are now, we would both be unhappy. I can think of only one solution to this. I will train you, that way you will be stronger, and you will not have to worry about loosing, because if you are trained by me, then you will be trained by the very best. The only way this will work is if you can trust me. If you don't trust me, then this won't work, and you will keep letting your fear of what could happen haunt you for the rest of your life, and keep you miserable and alone." He says in a very serious tone.

Akane fights with herself over this, on the one hand, he is a boy, and it is hard to think that he doesn't have an ulterior motive for offering to help her. On the other hand, she has never seen anyone fight like Ranma does, even with his handicap. No matter how hard she trains herself, without a real teacher, there is only so far she can progress, and she knows that. She looks at him, and sees how sincere his expression is, and for the first time in a long time, actually sees something in a boys face that she had not thought to see. Concern, genuine concern. Not the usual fake smiles and empty promises, but the potential for something real, for real progress in the Art, and a way to escape her fear. Finally, she comes to a decision, one that will change her and Ranma's lives forever. "Ok, I will try and trust you….Sensei"

The morning began as mornings tended to at the Tendo dojo ever since Ranma and Genma moved in, with Kasumi humming while she worked in the kitchen, Nabiki prefiguring the books over her usual cup of coffee, even if she seemed to be watching the events unfolding in the back yard with some interest. The thing that was slightly unusual this morning in the back yard was the fact that it wasn't just Genma and Ranma partaking in the usual morning spar, this time they were joined by Ryoga as well, with Akane watching from the porch.

The three had quickly worked out a method of sparring, or, to be more exact, Ranma and Ryoga had, and Genma gave in. The rules were pretty simple, the first one to fall would step out, and the next one would get in. So far, Ranma had been sparring non stop, with Genma and Ryoga switching in and out on a regular basis. Ryoga and Ranma's spars were very intense, a constant barrage of kicks, punches, dodges, and weaves. Genma's turns with Ranma were not as intense, but full of a lot of feints and tricks. Genma's one edge was the fact that he could blank out his aura, leaving Ranma deprived of his greatest edge in any fight, his ability to sense his opponent's chi and react to it. Years of fighting Genma had helped Ranma deal with this, but every once in a while his father did manage to surprise him with some new trick. This morning was not going to be one of those times, though, as he impacted with the outer wall yet again this morning. The sparring match came to a close as Kasumi calls them in to eat.

Breakfast is even more boisterous than usual, with Ryoga, and much to her surprise, Akane, being included in the morning breakfast battle. At Akane's surprised gasp at her food vanishing off of her plate, Ranma just smiles at her.

"Remember, Akane, anything goes!" Ranma says with a chuckle as he continues to pick food off of her plate. This comment gets more than a few eyebrows raised around the table, and a strange gleam in the eyes of both fathers.

"Yes, Sensei" is Akane's only reply as she tries to protect some of her food, managing to eat a little bit between the pilfering strikes of Ranma, who is busy stealing from her, and trying to protect his own meal from Ryoga and Genma. This is the pattern for the meal, and the rest of the breakfast combatants are to busy to notice the cold look Nabiki has this morning.

Breakfast comes to an end, with the Akane, Ranma, and Nabiki rushing off to get ready for school, while Ryoga just has a sort of lost look on his face, as he tries to figure out what exactly he is supposed to do while they are in class. He knows what will happen if he goes anywhere, and that worries him a bit, since he has finally found his old friend, and he doesn't really want to wander off somewhere now. He looks up in surprise as a book bag is thrown at him by Ranma as he hurries past.

"You know, you better get ready if you are going to come with us, bud, with the usually morning activities at Furinkan, we need to get there a bit early. I would like to know what you think of how Akane does." Ranma says as he slips on his shoes just as Akane comes barreling down the stairs and out the doors, slowing just enough to grab Ranma as she flies past.

Ryoga just shakes his head in amazement, as he rushes to keep up with them, doing his best not to loose sight of them even for a moment. As they near Furinkan High, he sees Akane lets go of Ranma as her fists ball up, her strides becoming faster and faster as her face begins to turn red. Ranma reaches out and stops Ryoga as Akane rushes towards the horde of boys that awaits her just inside the gates.

"Watch this, and tell me what you think. I might not like what is happening, but it is good training for her, in a way. The only problem is, that I think it has affected her confidence in odd ways." Ranma says to Ryoga as Akane reaches critical mass.

"I HATE BOYS!" Akane screams as she hits the mass head on, her fists and feet lashing out to pummel her many would-be suitors. Ryoga watches with a critical eye as Akane pummels and bashes her admirers, until they all lay in groaning, moaning heaps on the ground, with Akane panting above them, her eyes looking around for Kuno's entrance. She is not disappointed as a rose comes flying through the air, to be snatched by Akane angrily. "Hello, upperclassman Kuno, you are not looking to good today."

Kuno is swathed from head to toe in bandages, his right eye is swollen shut. He mumbles out "Hello, my beautiful Akane, these are nothing, less than the annoying bite of a fly! fight me to win the right to date me!" Kuno says as he takes up his usual stance. His posturing and posing is interrupted by Ranma's foot impacting with the side of Kuno's face.

Ranma turns towards Akane with an apologetic look on his face "Sorry 'bout that, but if we are going to make it to class on time, we had to hurry it up a bit, and as your Sensei, I don't think that fighting Kuno will help you get better. It's not that I don't think that you can beat him, its actually the fact that you need a real challenge, not this clown." He says, pointing down to Kuno, who is lying on the ground quite unconscious.

Akane gets and angry look on her face for a minute, before remembering their talk last night, then, with a sigh, she looks down and says "Yes, Sensei"

Nabiki has been watching this mornings proceedings, as she does every morning, running the betting pools, but this time, she is giving her sister a somewhat cold, calculating look as she sees her and Ranma talking. Nabiki gets a calculating look on her face, as she comes to a decision.

As Ranma, Akane, and Ryoga walk towards their class room, Ranma slows Ryoga up to ask him a few questions without Akane hearing.

"So, what did you think of her fight this morning?" Ranma asks Ryoga quietly, all the time keeping his attention focused on Akane so that he could keep them both from getting lost.

"Well, I think she really needs to learn to control that temper of hers, and that she does have potential, just she lacks in discipline. She takes them out fast enough, but she gets kinda sloppy from time to time. Are you sure you are doing the right thing in training her?" Ryoga replies as quietly as possible, knowing how good Ranma's hearing is.

Ranma thinks about this for a minute before replying in a low, conspiratorial tone. "Believe me, I think it is the right thing to do, she has a lot of potential, if she can just get that temper of hers under control, and work on her self-confidence just a bit. Plus, there is just something about her that I like, and I want to get to be her friend at least, even if this stupid engagement that we were put into falls apart. And trust is the first step, for both of us. I trust her enough to train her, and we will see if she can trust me enough to be trained."

Akane couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about back there, just out of earshot. She was sure they were talking about her, but she did promise to try and trust Ranma, and she would do her best to uphold her end of the deal, as long as he upheld his. She wasn't so sure about how he handled Kuno this morning, but not having to fight that idiot after taking on the horde was kind of nice, she had to admit. Not that she couldn't handle all of them, but it was nice not to have to, just this once.

Class proceeded with the usual mayhem, after Ryoga introduced himself to the class, and almost got lost on the way to his chair. Once again, Akane and Ranma are bombarded with questions about their engagement, the fight this morning, and about Ryoga. All in all, a pretty normal day at Furinkan high.

After school, the three of them make their way back to the Tendo dojo, with Ranma seeming to be lost in thought the entire way. Akane and Ryoga make small talk about where he has been, and what he has seen as Ranma thinks about the events of the last few days, trying to make a decision about how to proceed from here.

"Akane, go change into your gi, it is time to start your training. I hope you can keep up, I am not going to take it easy on you." Ranma says in a serious tone. Akane nods as she rushes into the house to change.

Ryoga looks over at Ranma after Akane vanishes into the house, as he sits down on the porch. "So, you think she is ready?" Ryoga asks of Ranma.

"Like I said, it is a matter of trust. I have to trust that she is ready, and she has to learn to trust me enough to let me teach her. Here she comes, I will see you later, buddy! We will spar when I get back, ok? I gotta enjoy having you to spar with before Xian Pu gets here." Ranma finishes with that lopsided grin of his as Ryoga blushes to the roots of his hair.

Akane comes running out of the house, her long, bluish-black hair flying behind her as stops before Ranma, dropping quickly into a bow. "Ok, I'm ready! What do we start with first? Mid-air combat? Advanced techniques?" Akane says in a rush, her face flushed with excitement.

Ranma just shakes his head "No, not with those. We start with the basics. If you don't learn the basics, then nothing else I have to teach you will do any good." As he hears Akane grinding her teeth he adds "I said that you have to learn to trust me, now, do you trust me to teach you the right way, or would you rather be taught like my father taught me? I'm sure I can manage that. I think that you would do better the way I want to try and teach you, though. Now, we start with the basics so that you can be ready for the next step, and the one after that." Ranma states in a very matter-of-fact voice.

Akane thinks about this for a moment, then slowly lowers her head. "Yes, Sensei" Akane says in a soft voice.

At this, Ranma breaks into a gentle, flowing kata, followed shortly by Akane. Ranma moves with grace and precision, each movement flowing into the next in an intricate dance. Akane follows more slowly, her movements a little rough as she tries to put her power into each movement. They complete the kata, then Ranma turns to Ryoga "So, how did she look? She was trying to power through each movement, wasn't she?" Ranma says in that same matter of fact tone of voice.

"Yeah, she has a lot of power, and knows how to use it, just she doesn't have the speed or grace she should have." Ryoga says, looking over Akane critically.

Akane starts to argue, until she is silenced by Ranma raising his hand. "Akane, one of the first lessons to learn is that you must know your own weaknesses before you can use the weakness of your opponent against them. You have strength, but it will do you no good unless you can hit, and as you are fighting now, you won't be able to hit, not someone like Ryoga or me. Now, do the kata again, but don't try to put so much power into it, instead try and do it as smoothly as you can, the power will come later. For now, you need speed. That is, unless you want to go on a diet every morning. If you can get fast enough, then I won't be able to steal your food. So, do the kata again."

Akane forces down her temper for a moment, and nods "Yes, Sensei" she says as she starts the kata again, trying not to put all of her power into each movement. Instead, she tries to make the movements smoother and faster. After she finishes the kata, she looks expectantly at Ranma and Ryoga, who have been quietly talking among each other the entire time.

Ranma gives her that lopsided smile of his as he nods "Yes, much better, you still have a long way to go, but it is a good start. Keep working on that kata, and I want you up early in the morning, we are going to start running together. I have said that everything is based on trust, and I mean it. Tomorrow, you are my eyes. Now, go get cleaned up and rest, you are going to need it." With this, Ryoga and Ranma walk back into the house.

Akane stands there for a while, thinking about it, before grinning. She would do whatever it took to improve. She would work hard. And she would learn to trust. That last bit was what she was most concerned about doing, she knew that would be the hardest part, and the one that mattered the most.

With this, Akane makes her way back into the house, knowing that tomorrow would be a long day.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters part or parcel of that great work, nor lay claim to any of the incredible ideas expressed by Rumiko Takahashi, or Viz video. This is just a labor of love from one fan to the rest.

Only the blind truly see: part 5

The mayhem meter at the Tendo dojo reached a whole new level the next morning, with the breakfast battle escalating to new levels with Akane's first real attempts to become an active combatant, instead of just another plate for the combatants to fight over. It wasn't too successful of an attempt, with her plate still being the primary target, but it was an effort. Towards the end of breakfast, Ranma rewards her efforts with a sudden burst of pilfering from Genma's plate, with Akane being the recipient of the stolen chow. This, of course, led them to resume the mornings sparring match, even if it was only very briefly. Just about enough time for Ranma to fling Genma into the koi pond, to be exact. This seems to be just what the various people were waiting for, as they quickly rushed off to finish getting ready for the morning.

Nabiki left for school just a bit earlier than usual, her thoughts anywhere but school. Her thoughts are on a certain pig-tailed martial artist, and why she would have let her rather spoiled little sister be the one to be engaged to him. She couldn't stop thinking about how he smiled at her, how he seemed to actually care what she thought. She tried to tell herself that she wasn't jealous, but she knew herself better. She was, and it was aggravating her to no end. She couldn't figure out what Akane had over her, sure, she might have been a bit cold towards him at first, but it was a very awkward situation that they were put into. What she needed to do now was to figure out how to change his view on the whole arrangement, and get herself put back into consideration. As she neared the school, a truly diabolical plan began to form in her devious little mind. It was risky, but if it worked, then she might be back into the running. And she really wanted to see Ranma smile at her like he did at Akane this morning.

Nabiki looked over the results of the first part of her plan, at the hentai horde arrayed out in all it's glory, and at the self-righteous idiot standing at the head of the horde, overflowing with righteous indignation. Things were looking good, with the first part of her plan standing ready to go into action. After seeing Ranma in action, she had no illusions about whether this would be overly successful, but it would be a good test to see what would and would not work. After all, all is fair in love and war, and this was war. A war fought for the heart of the young man walking towards the school behind her little sister. She felt a momentary pang of guilt over what she was doing, but quickly squashed it, instead focusing on what she had sacrificed for the rest of her family, how much she had given up and suffered so that they would not have to. She deserved this, and for once, she would have what she deserved!

As Akane, Ranma, and Ryoga approach the school, they could see the horde awaiting them, a tangible air of violence hanging over them, looking angry instead of infatuated. At the front of the mob stood Kuno, the look of outrage on his face clear to two of the three, and the third picking up on the heated wave of anger the waiting mob was projecting. As they neared the gates, Kuno steps forward, striding with all the regality he could summon forth.

"You, foul sorcerer, who doth bare the judgment of heaven! How dare you force the virtuous Akane Tendo into being your betrothed! You foul assailant on the very image of pureness that is Akane! We have come to smite thee, and send you back to whatever realm did spawn you! Fear not, fair Akane! We shall free you from his vile clutches so that you may be free to date the most worthy of us!" With the end of his monologue, Kuno points imperiously at a rather surprised Ranma, who then becomes the recipient of the combined rush of the whole hentai horde. A notable new addition to the horde this morning was members of Furinkan's own marching band, wielding various instruments.

Akane and Ryoga move back a bit, uncertain exactly what is going on, as Ranma accepts the challenge, as a certain individual was sure he would. Everyone watches as Ranma begins to take apart the horde one person at a time, his movements weaving in and out of the mass as he flows from opponent to opponent. Nabiki watches on, her heart racing as she watches him dance through the mob. Nabiki grins as he nears a small clump of combatants, eagerly awaiting the results of her first experiment. The wait is short lived, as the clump begins to play, very loudly. Ranma is thrown out of his rhythm as the Furinkan High marching band begins there own assault, to the clash of cymbals and the beat of drums, the high pitched wail of the woodwinds, and the rumble of the brass. It is an assault the likes of which Ranma had never faced before, and it proved to be severely limiting his ability to hear his opponents. Ranma actually felt a few of the combatants strike home, there blows striking him on the back and ribs as he tried to adjust, to tune out the music, and hear the people approaching him. A desperate idea came to him; all he needed now was for someone to hit him.

The battle almost seemed to be turning, as Nabiki watched in a mix of anticipation and guilt. She could see Ranma being hit several times, and she thought she might have come upon a solution, till Ranma seemed to step into a blow, taking it full on, before launching his attacker into the midst of the band! This sudden unexpected projectile seemed to be more than the musicians could handle, as the song assault came to an abrupt end. She knew that was the end of this part of the plan, all the rest would be just cleaning up after this. She was not proven wrong, as Ranma makes very quick work of the rest, including delivering another furious flurry of blows to Kuno, leaving him once again in the blissful realm of the recently pummeled.

Nabiki couldn't help but fume a bit at this, sure, the betting pools turned out even better than expected, and the test was at least a partial success, but still she was not entirely happy about it. She reminds herself once again about how much she has sacrificed all the things that she gave up for the sake of her family, and how much she really deserves to be happy. She really hopes that Ranma could make her happy; she is so tired of being alone. Everyone might think of her as the Ice Queen of Furinkan High, but inside she is very much just a lonely young lady, looking for what almost all the rest of her friends had found. The fact that one of the few boys she had ever taken a real interest in, one Tattewaki Kuno, was totally infatuated with her little sister did not help ease her frustration. She idly fingers the packet of photos she is carrying, thinking about how much she would get from the idiot this time.

Ranma's day just seems to be getter worse and worse, it seems. First, he gets attacked by Akane's admirers this morning, and then all throughout class; he seems to be the main point of interest of most of the boys in his class. He could just not figure out what could have caused this to happen, since yesterday things seemed to be going ok, at least relatively. Now, here he was, standing out in the hall, holding buckets of water after the antics of just a few minutes before in the class. It wasn't his fault, not really, at least. He just sighs as he continues to carry out the teacher's punishment. He listens to the class being lectured on the modern reform, and the end of the Shogunate, as his mind wanders back to the rather odd events of this morning. He just could not figure out what had caused the change in the hordes tactics, as far as he knew they had never attacked anyone besides Akane. Now, he had to admit, he didn't like them attacking her, and he knew that she could handle them, but he just was not happy with the situation at all. There had to be some reason for the sudden change of targets. He chuckled to himself a bit as he started trying to put the pieces together. This was something he would never have done before Elder Kho Lon started working on his training. Now, he just had to figure out why things had changed, and who was responsible. He didn't think it could be Kuno, he just wasn't the type to come up with a real plan, and that band had been part of a plan, from someone who knew that he needed his hearing to be able to fight. Definitely something to think about.

Nabiki was reviewing her notes on the encounter of this morning as she walked back from lunch, at least till she heard an awful amount of noise coming from the science lab. One look in gave her just the idea she needed. Now, to just make the arrangements and she would be back in the fiancé run. She would be loved, she was sure of that. At least, she hoped she would. Especially after seeing how Ranma and Akane talked to each other over lunch, even if it was about training and fighting. Now, she thought she had the next step figured out, just had to make all the arrangements now.

After school, the trio starts to head back to the dojo, Akane feeling excited about the training that is to come. She couldn't wait to start the real training, to actually make real progress in the art. It is what she had been dreaming of for years now, as she waited for her father to start to teach her again. Instead, he just seemed to sink farther and farther into his depression, as she slowly started to give up on him continuing her training. She found herself walking with a bounce in her step, an energy she hadn't felt for years, and it was amazing. She looks over at the reason for the change, and couldn't help but admit that it was nice having him around, being taken seriously. She couldn't stop thinking about what Ranma had said yesterday, about this being the real start of the trust between them, about the fact that today she would be his eyes. As they entered the compound, she couldn't hold back any longer, as she found herself rushing up the walk, dashing into the house yelling out her hello as she dumped her shoes, grabbed her house slippers, and rushed up to her room to get changed and ready.

Kasumi couldn't help but smile as Akane rushes through the house, flying up the stairs, and then back down in record time dressed in her gi. It had been so long since she had seen Akane smiling like that, looking so happy and excited. No matter how much extra work all the new guests meant, she couldn't think of how things would be without them. They made things so much more interesting around the house, and seeing Akane happy at last made it all worth it. Ranma was so open and expressive about things, and she could tell how much he appreciated her hard work, how much love went into each and every meal. This is what she had been missing, having all of these people here, a full house to take care of. It might not have been how she saw her life going when she was younger, but now, it was her life.

Akane dashes out into the backyard, stopping as she sees Ranma and Ryoga flowing through their katas smoothly. She stands there quietly, taking in the smooth grace and power they express in every movement. She hopes to one day to move like that, to be able to do that. She makes up her mind at that moment that nothing will stop her from achieving that goal. She bows briefly then begins her own katas to warm up; trying to figure out what Ranma is going to have her work on today.

Ranma and Ryoga finish their exercises, and wait for Akane to finish hers. As she finishes, Ranma tosses his stick to Ryoga, and turns to face Akane. With a serious look on his face, he says to her "Ok, I told you that today you are my eyes, and I meant that. We are going to go on a run around Nerima, and I will be counting on you to lead me. I will be following right behind you, stepping where you step, so make sure you are careful where you step. Now, if you are ready, lets get going."

Akane looks a little bit nervous at this, before nodding and starting to jog out of the compound, followed closely by Ranma. She soon looses herself in her jog, letting her mind go as she slips into auto-pilot, only being pulled back as Ranma brushes up against a trash can that was left out on the sidewalk. This serves to pull her back to the reality of the situation, and she can't help but feel nervous about the situation. She starts to pay more attention to her surroundings as she realizes that Ranma trusts her to find a safe path for him to run along. After that, there run goes pretty well, till, while looking back to check on Ranma, Akane finds a pot hole, the hard way.

Akane screams as she hits the ground, her ankle pounding with the abuse it has just received. She tries to stand, but can't fight back the whimper of pain that escapes her lips. Ranma stops next to her, before crouching down and sliding his hands along her legs and ankles, till he hears her soft gasp of pain she can't quite stifle. He looks down at her for a moment before slipping his arms underneath her and lifting her easily.

"What do you think you are doing! Put me down!" Akane shouts in shock about being lifted up into his strong arms.

Ranma looks down at her, before asking "Can you walk? If you can, I will let you down, but if your ankle is hurt like it feels, then I don't think you should be trying to walk. Now, you really will have to be my eyes. We need to get someone to look at that ankle of yours. Do you know anyone?"

Akane blushes at the situation she has found herself in, then nods as she says "Yes, Dr. Tofu's office is just a few blocks down. I'm sorry about this, it's all my fault."

Ranma just gives her that lopsided smile of his as he says "Well, accidents happen, and you will be more careful next time, right? So lets get you to this Dr. Tofu and get you patched up." With that, Ranma starts following Akane's directions to the office of Dr. Ono Tofu.

Ranma began to make his way to Dr. Tofu's office, letting Akane's directions guide him. It becomes apparent to her how important her directions are to Ranma as they trip up on yet another curb. After this, Akane quickly figures out just how important it is for her to give him accurate directions, and let him know about anything that could be an obstacle. A few minutes, and several scrapes and near falls later, they finally arrive at Dr. Tofu's clinic.

Akane looks more than a bit embarrassed as they make their way into the clinic, looking for the doctor. As she sees no sign of him, Akane directs him carefully back to the examination rooms, taking care to tell him about anything that he could get tripped on, or could run into. Akane looks around as they enter the examination rooms, still not seeing any sign of the doctor. The disappointed look on her face is missed by her companion, as she directs him to set her down on the table. "Well, I am sure that Dr. Tofu will be along any minute now." Akane says in a hopeful tone.

Ranma starts to relax back against the wall just as he feels a hand on his shoulder. This is a major surprise to him, as he did not hear, or even feel, anyone approaching. What is an even worse surprise is that the hand is cold and bony, and not giving off any living chi. Ranma jumps and stumbles back from the cold, dead hand on his shoulder. He stops as he hears someone chuckling, and is suddenly aware of someone standing in front of him. Ranma composes himself for a moment, then asks "Are you Dr. Tofu? Akane seems to have hurt her ankle."

Dr. Tofu just chuckles at surprising the young gentleman that brought in Akane, then gets to work, carefully examining her ankle, his skilled hands sliding over the swollen flesh of her ankle with just a ghost of a touch. He examines her ankle for a moment before beginning to gently probe and push at the badly twisted ankle, alleviating the pain and pressure expertly. After a few minutes of careful work, he quickly wraps her ankle, before addressing the both of them. "Akane, you should try to stay off of your ankle for a while so that it can heal properly, about a week, knowing you as I do. That means no running, no fighting, and no training." He just grins at her disappointed look. "You will be back to your training soon enough, just enjoy your break, ok?"

Akane sighs, then just nod. "Yes, Dr. Tofu." The two gentlemen miss the embarrassed look on Akanes face, as she tries hard not to blush. 'I can't believe this has happened to me, just when I was about to really start training, this had to happen, I bet Ranma is disappointed in me now.' Akane thought to herself, as she sits herself back up, trying to see just how bad her ankle is before she tries to stand up.

Tofu looks over at Ranma, examing him with an experienced eye. "You weren't born blind, were you? If you don't mind my asking, how did you loose your sight?" Tofu wasn't sure if he would get an answer or not, but his curiosity was peaked by this young man in front of him. He carried himself with grace and precision, and it was obvious he was a trained martial artist from how he moved. This young man raised questions that he wanted to know the answers to, but those answers would have to wait. The Kami had other ideas on what should happen at this time, as a beautiful voice calls out to Tofu from the front. Tofu's glasses fog over, as he starts to twitch.

Akane, hearing her sisters voice, gets out of the room as fast as possible, knowing all too well what will happen now, as the competent, skilled doctor becomes a babbling idiot at the mere sound of her sisters voice. She can't help but stifle a tear as she hobbles out of the room, being followed by a very puzzled Ranma. Once again, she wishes that Tofu would see her as someone besides the young girl he used to patch up after some accident or another, but deep in her heart, she knows that will never happen. Tofu cares too much for Kasumi, and she should be happy for her sister, even if it breaks her own heart. She just wishes he would stop being such an idiot around Kasumi. She is pulled out of her thoughts by Ranma reaching out and laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Would you like some help, that ankle has got to be hurting." Ranma says in as gentle of a tone of voice as he can. He can tell something is bothering her, he just wishes he knew what. She seemed to be fine, at least till Dr. Tofu came in, then all of the sudden, Akane was sounding all nervous. Slowly, the wheels in his head ground around till they hit a solution. Ranma turned towards her as he said "You like him, don't you? That is why you are so nervous."

Akane gives a heart-broken sigh "Well, maybe I did like him, a bit, but there is another girl that he loves, even if he acts like an idiot around her. I should be happy for them, but I can't help but be jealous. All I am is the little girl he patched up, nothing else. I even grew my hear long, just so he would like me. But what chance do I stand against someone like her."

Ranma thinks about this for a minute, before saying "It's Kasumi, right? I could sense the doctor's aura get all messed up when she came in. I have never felt anything like that before. It's kinda scary, to be honest. I mean, he is a martial artist, no doubt about that, with how he snuck up on me, I didn't hear or feel anything until that skeleton touched me on the shoulder. Does he always do that?"

Akane chuckles a little at this as she says "Yes, he does that with Betty from time to time, and I guess he is a martial artist, I have never seen him practice, but he moves with that grace, kind of like you do. Hey, Ranma, what did he mean when he asked how you became blind. Is it true that you were not always blind?"

Ranma lets out a long breath before answering "No, I wasn't always blind, I had an accident while training, and lost my sight after that. Ever since then, I have been like this. It was pretty bad at first, but in time I came to accept it. One of the masters I had taught me that everything happens for a reason, even if you don't like what happened. He said that I have an advantage over some people, because I was blind."

Akane immediately responds "I hate to say it, but what kind of advantage could you have? You can't see your opponent, or the ground you are fighting on, you can't see the leaves change colors, or the clouds in the sky. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that…."

Ranma gives her that lopsided grin of his, only a bit softer as he responds to her statement "I asked him pretty much the same thing, and what he told me is that 'Only the blind truly see', you see, everyone else is blinded by what they see before them, they take things at appearances. I don't have that option. It is harder for me to judge people by looks, or skin color. I have to take things as they are, as they appear to me. Take you, for example, I have been told that you are a very pretty young woman with bluish-black hair, and dark eyes. What I know is that you are a caring, warm person, who just needs to learn to control your temper a bit more before your inner beauty will outshine anything that lies only on the outside."

Akane flushes at the compliment, and shifts about a little at this, not used to compliments that are not accompanied by attacks of some kind. She tries to collect herself for a moment, and realizes how difficult a task that is right now. She decides to ask Ranma some questions to change the topic, so that she can stop feeling quite so embarrassed. Making up her mind, she asks Ranma "Ok, I was curious, how exactly did you become blind? You said it was a training accident, right?"

Ranma pauses for a minute, trying to come to a decision. Finally, he decides on a course of action, one that will have very uncomfortable results for one individual. "Yes, it was a training accident when I was pretty young. Pops wanted to teach me an invincible technique, one of the so-called ultimate techniques: The Neko-ken. The old fool never read all of the text on the technique, or I would not be like this now. You see, it teaches you to fight like a wild c-cat." Ranma shudders visibly at saying this, as he stammers a bit. "The training involves taking a young student, covering them in various fish products, and dropping them into a pit of half-starved c-cats." Ranma once again shudders at this, and has to pause for a moment to collect himself, all the while Akane goes from a simmer to a slow boil. "When I was in the pit...they clawed up my face, and I lost my sight. Ever since then, I have been like this. And afraid of those little furry devils." Ranma has barely finished speaking when he feels a sudden wave of red-hot chi boil over him as the young lady next to him goes thermo-nuclear.

"GENMA NO-BAKA!" Akane roars as she takes off at a fast hobble, a massive mallet appearing in her hands from nowhere as she heads into the house, looking for a certain individual with murder on her mind. Panicked shouts from inside the house let everyone in the area, including Ranma, know when she has found her quarry, as does the dot dwindling into the sky that shortly follows this event.

Everyone that is inside and witnesses this event sits in shock at the events that just unfolded, and the Genma-sized hole in the wall. Kasumi seems shocked, Ryoga seems mildly amused, Soun is weeping over how energetic his little girl seems after her engagement, while Nabiki watches coldly to the events that unfold at the table.

'She doesn't deserve someone like that, he is too nice for that violent, spoiled little brat. He needs someone who will love and take care of him. I know I can do that, better than she could ever have. And soon, I will get my chance, now that all the pieces are in place, it's just a matter of making things go as I want them to.' Nabiki thought as she watched Genma fly off into the distance.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters part or parcel of that great work, nor lay claim to any of the incredible ideas expressed by Rumiko Takahashi, or Viz video. This is just a labor of love from one fan to the rest.

Only the blind truly see, part 6

Nabiki sits in her room, reflecting on how things came to this. In the next day or so, things should come to a head, and then she could change how things were going. Then, maybe all the sacrifices would pay off; all the things that she had let go would be worth it. She couldn't help but laugh at herself, going through all this to possibly win the heart of one young man. Maybe if she could win his heart, then she could ease some of the loneliness that plagued her. She knows deep down that she, herself, is the real reason she is so alone, but it is the price she had to pay to protect her family. The price she had to pay to protect Akane.

She thinks back to the early years, after she first found out that she could get the money they needed through the betting pools, then through manipulation, and finally out-right blackmail. She remembers the first time she sold pictures to Kuno, how she was joking about selling him the pictures she had of her sister that she had taken for a class project. She couldn't believe it, when Kuno had asked her about the pictures, and she had jokingly stated a price, and he had pulled it out, mumbling about the price. Ever since that day, things had never been the same. More and more pictures, and increasingly complicated plots had yielded ever increasing amounts of money, all for her family. She felt justified in what she had done, since it was all for their own good. What right did they have to complain about her methods? Where did Akane think the money for her training came for? Or the groceries and electricity, the day to day maintenance of the dojo. All of it came from her plans. The day they contributed to the finances was the day they could criticize her for her techniques. Until that day, she would do what was needed to take care of her family.

Things might not be going as she had hoped they would, but she would make the best of the situation, as she always did. She would maneuver Ranma into a situation where he would be forced to break his engagement with Akane, and then she could step in, and take her place, to uphold the family honor. Then, she would be the one to inherit the dojo, and she would take the place she had earned with all of her hard work. Even if she did change her mind, it was too late now. All the pieces had been put into play, and everything was now set. Tomorrow, things would begin, and things would change forever. Tomorrow, she would take a small measure of what was owed her. Maybe that idiot Kuno would prove useful for something. But if this did work, she would loose him forever.

With a sigh, she sits down and writes the challenge letter, to be delivered herself for Kuno. It has to be worded just right, or it would never work. Soon, Ranma would be honor bound to give up Akane, and to allow Kuno to pursue her. Even Kuno should be able to beat Ranma with the preparations she had made. Tomorrow would be the day, the day she had waited for so long.

Elsewhere, a lavender haired young lady is riding on the rooftops, looking for her husband. Her bike bell dings merrily as she rides along, getting to know the lay of the city. Next week, her Grandmothers restaurant would open, and then she would be doing the deliveries. As she bounces from roof to roof, she sees the person she has been looking for up ahead, walking next to Ranma and some other woman. She picks up speed as she launches into the air.

Ryoga, Akane, and Ranma are walking towards school, making small talk. Akane still is hobbling along, but surprisingly enough, Ranma has not stopped her training. Instead, he has just changed it. The breakfast battles are picking up in intensity, and he had started showing her new ways to meditate. He had told her that her temper could be her worse enemy, since there were techniques that could turn it against her. He had said he would teach her the 'Soul of Ice', so that she could learn to control her temper, and maybe even learn to use it for her benefit.

Akane jerks in surprise as Ranma grabs her, and pulls her to the side as Ryoga is plowed into the ground by the young lady on a bike that lands on top of him. Akane blinks in surprise at this strange arrival, as Ryoga lies twitching underneath the bike. Ranma just grins that lopsided grin of his, as he bows to the young lady.

"Ni hao, Airen! Ni hao, Ranma!" The newcomer says in a bubbly tone, her accent very strange indeed. "It has been too, too long since I saw you, Airen! You very, very bad for running away from your darling Shampoo! I have to teach you too, too important lesson!" With this, she produces a pair of large, metal headed maces and proceeds to start pummeling Ryoga.

Ranma starts to laugh at this, as Ryoga and Shampoo start to fight among each other. "Akane, I would like you to meet Xian Pu, the granddaughter of Elder Kho Lon. I guess this means that they are in Nerima now. I guess I will have to go introduce you to the elder after school, she is quite a good Sensei, if a bit over zealous. If she offers to train you, be very careful. Her training is very intense, but what you could learn is something else." Ranma keeps talking to Akane as Ryoga and Xian Pu continue to fight, till at last Ryoga gets the upper hand, resulting in him beating her, and then being on the receiving end of an Amazon glomp.

Akane looks away from this, towards Ranma, a rather puzzled look on her face "Does this happen often? You know, her landing on him, him beating her, and then getting the stuffing squeezed out of him?" Akane says, sounding quite confused at everything that is going on.

Ranma laughs loudly at this before turning back towards Akane and saying "Yeah, pretty much this is how things go, ever since the first time they met. Xian Pu is the village champion, and Ryoga beat her, so this is how things are." Then, talking a lot quieter he adds "Don't let them know I told you this, but this is pretty much how things are between them, and even if they don't let others know, they are actually quite fond of each other."

The battle ended, the two combatants move back to join the others, with Xian Pu still attached to Ryoga's arm. Not even a blind man could miss the look of happiness on Xian Pu's face, or the embarrassed flush on Ryoga's. With a laugh, Ranma waves goodbye as he begins to walk towards school again, with Akane close in tow.

"Shouldn't we wait for him, Ranma?" Akane asks, as she looks back the two others, as they start making small talk among each other, catching up on what they had missed. Ranma shakes his head, as he walks away. "No, I imagine they have a lot to catch up on, and unless we hurry, we will be late, after all, I have to take care of the moron brigade for you, at least till your ankle heals, ok?" Akane nods at this, and they continue on, soon seeing the gates of Furinkan, and the horde that awaits them within. Standing before the gates is Nabiki, holding a sealed envelope.

"Here you go, Ranma, a challenge letter from Kuno for you. Would you like me to read it to you?" Nabiki waits till Ranma nods before opening the letter and reading "Ranma Saotome, onto whom the Heavens have delivered their divine justice, and foul sorcerer who has ensnared the beauteous Akane Tendo in your foul web of deceit, I do hereby challenge you to combat to free her of your foul presence. When I win, you will forevermore forfeit all claims to this vision of purity that is Akane, and return her to the one that she truly belongs with, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tattewaki Kuno. This is your chance to prove that you are not just a coward who would hide behind the fact that the Kami have stripped you of your sight in response to the many vile acts you have performed." Nabiki finishes reading the letter of challenge as Kuno steps out from behind his usual tree, looking even more pompous than normal. Ranma clenches his fists tight as he lowers his head, before turning towards Akane, waiting for her response.

Akane knows the code that any practitioner of Anything Goes lives by, to never turn down any challenge, and knows that Ranma has no real choice in the matter, but still, he turns towards her for her acceptance of the terms of the fight. Her heart skips a beat at this, as she finds herself flushing in embarrassment. Slowly, she nods, as Ranma step forward.

"I, Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes martial arts, accept your challenge! When I win, you must give up on Akane, and never allow the others to try and attack her. I will hold you to your honor to see that this is enforced." Ranma then turns towards Nabiki "After this, I want to talk to you." Something in how Ranma says this turns Nabiki's blood to ice, the tone of his voice is so unlike how he usually talks, lacking the humor and gentleness that he uses when addressing Akane. Nabiki shudders inside, all of the sudden worried that he might somehow know about her plans, and that she is the one that has been orchestrating the events behind the scenes. There is no way he could know, but the possibility worries her.

As Ranma and Kuno face off, the science club goes into action, firing up their white-noise generator, throwing a blanket of pure noise over the crowd, distracting most of the people, and having a much worse effect on a certain young man. Ranma staggers back for a moment as his sensitive hearing is assaulted with random noise, totally blocking out all the background noise, as Kuno advances on him, not seeming to be affected by the noise at all. As Kuno begins his attacks, Ranma seems off-balance, and unable to defend himself effectively, as his main resource is denied him in a brutal fashion. Nabiki can't hide her small smile of satisfaction at seeing how well it is working. She is sure that Ranma will give in, seeing as how he is now totally defenseless against Kuno's attacks. She knows it is just a matter of time now.

Ranma staggers back, trying to shrug off the effects of the noise, and the effects of the blows that keep slipping through his defenses. He does his best to focus, and find his opponent, but the noise keeps throwing him off, not letting him find where the attacks are coming from, or where to strike. Not since when he first was blinded has he felt so lost, so totally blind. Only two options are left, and one is not even a question. Ranma knows he can't quit, he can't give in. There is only one option left, he just hopes that the Elder will understand him using it. His mind set on what he needs to do, he starts to lead Kuno around, slowly spiraling towards the middle of the circle, as he prepares for what is to come.

Kuno can't believe how wrong he was, here he thought that Ranma might have almost been worthy of fighting him, but here he was, totally on the defensive, as he receives the punishment of the heavens. Kuno knows that he is the vessel of this divine justice, and he feels himself filled with a mighty power as he smashes blow after blow into the fiend before him. He knows that his opponent shall feel the full might of The Blue Thunder's fury and wrath! These are the last things on his mind as Ranma stops, and drives his fist into the air, shouting out "Hiyo Shoten Ha!" After that, there is not much to remember, except the sudden wind that flings him into the air, and tears at his clothes, then the fall from the heights, followed very shortly by unconsciousness.

As soon as the Dragon Ascension Blast had begun to dissipate, the noise stops, as the people tending to the machine were too distracted to make sure that it kept within the correct frequency. Then, they were too concerned with running away, like most of the rest of the spectators. As the crowd disperses at this show of incredible power, only a few are left to see the outcome. Ranma stands at the center of the area that was swept clean by the whirlwind that carried Kuno away, Akane is rushing towards him as fast as her ankle would allow, and Nabiki, who stood there with a stunned look on her face as her plan was torn apart by the walking chaos magnet that is Ranma.

Ranma says to Akane "That is why you need to learn to control your temper. Against Kuno, it was devastating, against you, it could have been fatal." Ranma says before slowly sitting down, his breathing a bit ragged, his clothes torn from the force of Kuno's blows. Akane hovers over him, not sure what to do, as Nabiki slowly starts to walk away. "Nabiki, we really do need to talk, but it will wait till after school, I just don't have the energy for it right now. But don't forget, ok? I think it is probably for the best if we talk soon." With this, he slowly stands up, and walks towards class with Akane right beside him.

For a brief moment, Nabiki regrets what she has done, but then she looks at the two of them, and the desire to have someone in her life gets stronger than ever before. She will do whatever it takes. It is what she has earned, it is what she deserves. With this, she walks towards her own class, plotting out how to handle Ranma and whatever he might want to talk to her about.

Only the blind truly see, part 12

Nabiki sits in her class, barely paying attention, knowing that her underlings are taking notes for her. Her mind wanders back to the events of that morning, and the reports that are still coming in from her sources. Ever since the fight this morning, Ranma has been unusually quiet. Her mind works on the possibilities, trying to plot out how much Ranma knows, and how much he could have figured out. 'There is no way he could know, even if he accuses me of something, he has no proof, so all I have to do is keep my cool, and it will all blow over. Perhaps I should have used someone besides Kuno? But who could I have used? Kuno is a fool, but he is a talented fool. I never expected Ranma to possess such a powerful technique, I will have to find another path.' Nabiki brings her mind back to the task at hand, as she off-handedly answers the teachers question.

Ranma is also lost in thoughts of his own, trying to put things together. Someone has to be moving behind the scenes, someone who knows his secrets, or at least can guess at them. Someone who knows that he needs to hear to make up for his loss of sight. Someone who can manipulate things at the school. From what he had seen of Kuno, there is no way he would have thought of a plan like that, to render his sense of hearing useless. It took someone who could gather information, and formulate a plan, and bring it to execution. He had been listening around the school, and everything that he had heard pointed towards only one person at the school who had those kind of abilities. And that was what worried him the most, because if it was Nabiki, then his troubles were only really beginning.

The day drags on, with the usual amount of mayhem and chaos that seems to follow Ranma wherever he goes. Ryoga shows up late for class, and then at lunch, Xian Pu makes another appearance, with the usual outcome of Ryoga and Xian Pu fighting, and the collateral damage that always ensues. In other words, things were relatively normal, for Nerima, and Furinkan High. As the school day drew to a close, there was an almost perceptible feeling of tension in the air, as the events of the last few days come to a head, and consequences will be known. Unbeknownst to all involved, another individual is about to enter the fray, one who will bring new challenges and troubles.

At the outskirts of the Nerima Ward of Tokyo stands a petite young woman, dressed in a white nurses outfit, carrying a medical bag. She looks around, and consults her map. After a few minutes of looking, she gives a happy sigh and says "Ok, according to my research, Ranma-sama and Papa Saotome should be here. Oh, I hope nothing has happened to my dear Ranma!" With this, she begins to make her way into Nerima, consulting her notes as she goes. She is oblivious to the strange looks she is getting as she begins reciting to herself the various procedures to perform in case of one injury or another.

Classes at Furinkan High come to an end, and the various classes begin to disperse, heading off towards home or their various clubs. Waiting out front of the school stands Ranma and Akane, waiting for Nabiki to exit the school. Ranma has a dark look about him, as he waits expectantly for Nabiki. Akane stands beside him, a worried look on her face as she shifts about, trying to keep her weight off of her twisted ankle. Ryoga and Xian Pu are no where to be seen, the last time they were seen they were fighting in the soccer field after Xian Pu accused him of looking at another girl. That was several hours ago, and presently there was no sign of either. Nabiki at last makes her appearance, dismissing her flunkies as she approaches the waiting pair, bearing the usual calm, collected look that is so common on the Ice Queen of Furinkan Highs face.

"So, what is you wanted to talk to me about, Ranma? I do hope it is important, I have a lot of business to take care of today." Nabiki says in her usual calm tone, not showing the inner turmoil that this talk has brought about to anyone, but there is one person who is able to sense the nervousness that is plaguing her right now.

Ranma, at hearing the faint tone of nervousness that lies just at the edge of her tone, and the disruption of her usually calm chi flows knows that his guess was probably right. Now, what really matters is finding out why. "Nabiki, we need to talk, we can talk with Akane here or not, but we need to talk, and we need to talk now. I know what has been going on around here, and I want to know why. In the last few days, I have been attacked while someone tried to limit one of my most important senses, and I have been forced to do things that I would prefer not to have to have done. I did not want to have to use that technique on Kuno, and I wouldn't have had to if it wasn't for the fact that someone had messed with my hearing like that. I want answers, Nabiki, and I want them now!" Ranma finishes this statement with a firm stance, his arms crossed across his chest expectantly.

Akane stands there for a moment, stunned, not believing what Ranma had just said. Nabiki was her sister, so why would she do such a thing? Why would Nabiki try and help Kuno, the person who had made her life miserable for the last year? None of this made any sense, and Ranma seems so sure of what he had said. Akane squares her shoulders as she finishes this thought, and turns to look at Nabiki "Ok, what is going on here? Nabiki, I know you wouldn't do anything like that, right? I mean, what reason would you have to want to do something like that, after all? It just doesn't make any sense." As Akane finishes saying this, her ankle starts to give out on her, and instantly Ranma reaches out to catch her, his hands steadying her.

Nabiki had taken about all she could of them, and seeing Ranma grab Akane was about the last straw for her, as her usual calm look crumbles to reveal the jealous look she had been trying to hide all week. "You want to know why, little sis? You want to know why I would help that self-centered idiot to beat your precious Ranma?" Nabiki looks around at the people who are watching them, at least till they see Nabiki look at them. Nabiki turns back towards the two of them, her gaze blazing. "Come on, we are going to finish this talk in private." With this she starts to walk towards the back of the school with Ranma and Akane in tow, no one else even getting close to them, out of fear for what Nabiki might do to them.

"Ok, I think you have a lot of explaining to do, Nabiki, like why you did this, and what you think you stand to gain by it." Ranma states in a cold tone, his stance guarded and closed.

Nabiki faces away from them, her back straight as she stares off into the distance. "I'm tired of how things always are, of Akane always getting everything that she wants. I'm tired of all the sacrifices I have to keep making just so that 'daddy's little girl' can be happy." With this, she turns and gives Akane a dark look before continuing "I'm sick and tired of it. Akane gets to live in this perfect little world while Kasumi and I make one sacrifice after another for the family. Now, she gets to have a fiancé who seems to actually care for her, while Kasumi and I get to stay at home and sacrifice our chances of happiness just so that everything can remain the same. It isn't enough that Akane took Kuno away from me, no, she has to flaunt her happy little relationship around in front of me! Yes, I helped Kuno try and beat you, Ranma, because I know how honorable you are, and that if you lost, you would have to carry through with the terms of the duel. Then, you would be honor-bound to marry either Kasumi or me. Then, I could be the fiancé, and then Akane would have to be the one who was alone. It might be petty, but just this once, I wanted something of my own! I wanted to be the one who was happy for once!" Nabiki turns back around, trying hard to suppress the tears that threaten to pour out and ruin her stony facade

As Akane stands in shock over hearing what her sister just said, not expecting to hear this from her cold and calculating sister, her temper begins to boil, as she realizes that her own sister has betrayed her trust. That her sister blames her for the fact that she is alone, that she wants to steal Ranma away from her. As all of this begins to seep in, Ranma's grip on her tightens slightly.

Ranma squeezes Akane gently as he thinks over all that Nabiki has just said, and he can sense Akane's body tensing as her temper comes to a boil. "Akane, remember what I have told you, you need to learn to keep your temper under control. Your anger only helps who ever you are fighting, not you. I chose you, Akane, and I have no intention of leaving you. Try to forgive your sister, ok?" Ranma gives Akane that lopsided grin of his, hoping that she will relax just a bit. He turns towards Nabiki as he continues "Ok, Nabiki, first things first, I will not give up on Akane, and I will not think of you as a fiancé. I am sorry for all that you have lost, of thought you have lost, but that is no reason to take it out on Akane. I know what happened to all three of you is not fair in any sense of the word, but that does not mean you can take it out on Akane. Look at Kasumi, hasn't she given up on as much as you have, or even more? And why do you think that Akane stole that idiot Kuno away from you? This is the only chance you are going to get to explain things, and unless things stop, now, you will find out what happens to those that cross me." Ranma says this last part in a tone that makes Nabiki's blood run cold, with not a trace of the humor that usually accompanies anything that he says.

Nabiki clenches her fists as she begins to realize how badly she might have misjudged things, and how close she is to loosing it all. She can't help but think about what Ranma has said to her, and the chance that he is right. Maybe they all have made a lot more sacrifices than she wants to think about, both her, Kasumi, and even Akane. And it is true that Akane does not want Kuno's attention, and that if anyone is to blame for feeding the fires of his obsession, the blame rests solely on her own shoulders, with every picture she sold she pushed Kuno that much farther away. Nabiki fights down the tears that are threatening to spill out, as her pain becomes overwhelming. She turns away from them as the first silent tears begin to roll down her cheeks, and then jerks in surprise as she feels one, then two, pairs of arms slowly slide around her, holding her close. "Why, why are you both doing this? What does it matter what I want? It never has before, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I don't even know why I care what that jerk does. I am just so tired of it all!" Nabiki can't hold out any longer, as she turns and buries her face into the shoulder of the young man who is holding her, and she feels her little sister gently stroking her back. "Why do you care? I'm the Ice Queen, I'm not supposed to feel like this. I shouldn't care what happens to others, and I shouldn't care what that idiot does." Nabiki breaks down into tears, her pain becoming overwhelming as everything comes rushing up to the surface, everything that she has done, and said, that has hurt her sisters and driven everyone away from her.

Akane doesn't fully understand all that is going on, only that her sister needs her, and that this is the right thing to be doing right now. Something about how Ranma smiled at her just before he hugged Nabiki made her sure that Ranma was going not going to leave her for her sister, and that right then, Nabiki needed her. She could almost feel her jealousy and anger melting under Ranma's gentle smile. Maybe she could forgive Nabiki for what she had done, if Ranma could. She made up her mind then and there that she would try to overcome her jealousy, at least when it came to her sister. She couldn't ever remember seeing Nabiki cry. "Nabiki, you are my sister, and I love you. You know that I have never wanted anything to do with Kuno. I wish there was some way we could get him to forget about me. Then you would have your chance with him, even if I have no idea what you see in him."

Ranma's mind kicks into overdrive as he thinks about what Akane has just said, and the beginning of an idea sprouts, one that could work, or at least would hopefully give Nabiki another route to turn herself towards. "Nabiki, with Kuno's agreement with that fight, he cant pursue Akane anymore, or let any of the Horde try, either. Well, Kuno says that anyone who can beat him gets the honor of dating him, right? There might be a way, it all depends on you. Did you ever practice your families Art? And if so, how long has it been since you last practiced? If you are willing and able, I think I know a way you can win Kuno, once and for all."

Nabiki thinks about this, and just sighs "Yes, I used to practice, but it has been years, and I am nowhere near as good as Akane is, there is no way I can beat Kuno, he is just too good, and even if I started to train again, who would teach me? Daddy? He doesn't even train Akane. I don't think your dad would either. So, are you offering to teach me? I would think you would have your hands full training Akane. So, who is left that could teach me, much less teach me enough to beat Kuno-baby?"

Ranma gives her that devilish grin of his as he lets go of her and steps back. "There is just one person I know that could do it, and if you do get accepted, I feel sorry for you in some ways. She is the best teacher I have ever had, and the hardest. But if anyone could teach you good enough to beat Kuno, it is her."

Nabiki looks at him for a moment before gently stepping away from Akane. "Oh, and who is this miracle worker that could do the impossible?"

Ranma laughs a bit before continuing "Just one person could do that, and that is Elder Kho Lon. If you are willing, I will take you to meet her tomorrow, I wanted to introduce Akane to her as well. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want?"

Nabiki thinks about this for a minute, weighing all the options. She knows the odds are against her on this, and everything that she has learned says that this will not work. But, just maybe, this one time she could bet on the underdog, even if that underdog is her. Her mind made up, she looks at Ranma, that cold, confident look one again on her face, "When do we start?"

Ranma laughs loudly as he slips his arm around Akane to help support her weight as they begin to walk back home, joined after a minute by Nabiki helping support Akane on the other side. They walk in silence for a while, before Nabiki turns to look at Ranma and says "You know, you had better treat her right, if you hurt my little sister like I almost did….." Nabiki says in her most threatening tone of voice.

Ranma pales at this before turning that cocky grin back on the two of them "If I do that, then I think you will have to get in line, right, Akane?"

Akane gives him a soft, shy smile before nodding "Yes, that is pretty much how things are, unless you want to get malleted like that baka father of yours."

All three of them break out into soft laughter, not realizing what lies in store for them in the near future, as a certain young woman in a nurse's smock nears the Tendo dojo


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own Ranma ½ or any characters part or parcel of that great work, nor lay claim to any of the incredible ideas expressed by Rumiko Takahashi, or Viz video. This is just a labor of love from one fan to the rest.

Only the blind truly see, part 7

The three walk back towards the Tendo residence in an easy silence, not talking, just thinking about the changes today has brought to the situation they find themselves in. Akane can't stop thinking about seeing Nabiki not only cry, but smile as well, both events worth noting when it comes to he usually cold and aloof sister. Ranma is busy thinking on how he can get Kho Lon to accept Nabiki as a student, and wondering if Mu Tsu is going to be here as well. Nabiki is weighing out the options that lie before her, some of which still involve Ranma, others that involve Kuno, and almost all centering around whether this Kho Lon will accept her as a student or not. All of three of them have there chain of thoughts brought to an end by there arrival at the Tendo dojo. Both of the sisters notice the new pair of shoes waiting out in the entry hall, with the usual ones of the family, Genma, Ryoga and Xian Pu. The sisters give each other a curious look as they enter the house proper and Akane calls out "We're home!" Like she does everyday.

They proceed into the main room where the sisters both see a petite young woman dressed in a nurse's smock talking to the rest of the family quietly, all the while Genma looks more and more panicked, especially on seeing Ranma and Akane enter the room. The conversation comes to an abrupt end as everyone notices the entrance of the rest of the residents of the house. The young woman rises gracefully and bows to the new arrivals.

"Hello! I am Sakura Kusanagi, and I am so glad to see you again, Ranma-kun! I was worried I would never see you again, and that our vow would go unfulfilled! I am so glad that is not the case! Now, please, you must sit, it would not do to have you trip and fall and injure yourself." The young woman who introduced herself as Sakura rushes over to Ranma, fully intent on helping him to a seat.

Ranma holds up his hand as he can feel Sakura approaching. "Look, I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself quite well. Now, who exactly are you and what are you doing her? Your name doesn't sound familiar, are you sure we have met?" Ranma says, as he tries to remember if he has ever met a young lady by this name before.

A sad look crosses her face for a moment, before she smiles at him once again "I should have figured you might not remember me right away, it has been so long since I last saw you, and that we were engaged." If she was going to say anything else, it is interrupted at this point by the blazing battle aura of Akane as her temper goes from simmer to boil instantly. This sudden explosion of Volcano Akane draws the attention of most of the room, including a small scowl from Ranma.

Akane can't believe what she has just heard. Ranma is engaged to another woman! She starts to turn towards Ranma, but then sees the utterly confused look on his face. That leaves only one person who could be responsible. She turns her heated gaze onto Genma who is trying his best to shrink into a corner and out of sight. With a low growl, Akane summons her 'mallet of idiot punishment' and advances on Genma with murder in her eyes. With a cry of 'GENMA NO BAKA!" she drives him through the wall and over the horizon as he takes a flight courtesy of Akane Air.

Sakura watches what is happening in horror as Papa Saotome is sent flying off into the distance. She turns towards the violent young lady that has just put her mallet back wherever she got it from, and frowns at her angrily "What do you think you are doing? You could have hurt papa Saotome! And who exactly are you, standing so close to my fiancé? I want answers, and I want them now!"

Akane turns towards Sakura, and gives the young lady an angry look "Now look here! Ranma is MY fiancé! We were promised to each other when we were very little, even before his training trip! I don't know what that baka Genma did, but Ranma is MY fiancé, not yours!"

"Oh? He is your fiancé? Do you know what it takes to take care of a blind man? What kind of special needs he has? Do you know how to keep him safe, and treat him when he gets hurt? I have been trained since I was just a little girl to take care of my poor, dear, blind darling. Ever since Papa Saotome promised Ranma to my father in place of the medical bills that were owed, I have been being prepared for this! So what right do you have to lay claim to him!" Sakura says in a huff, quickly loosing her patience with the young lady in front of her.

While this is going on, Ranma has been trying to break up the fight that is quickly building, but once again the people involved aren't really paying attention to him. Finally deciding that enough is enough, Ranma steps between the two of them, his hands raised in a placating gesture. "Ok, you two, that is enough! Sakura, I really don't remember anything about an engagement! I don't know what pops was thinking in promising me to you, but I am engaged to Akane. It is a matter of family honor as well as my choice. I am really sorry, but I really have no clue what this is all about."

Sakura begins to cry softly at this, as her whole world crashes down around her. Sniffling, she pulls an old piece of paper out, and slaps it down on the table in front of Ranma. "Then what about this? Here is the note that Papa Saotome signed, and the bill that was waived in favor to the engagement. I imagine if you are going to break the engagement, then you will have to pay the bill. You can at least do that, since you are breaking your father's word of honor!"

Nabiki steps forward and looks at the bill, giving a low whistle. "That is quite a large medical bill. Ranma, does your father have quite a bit saved up? If not, then I am not too sure on your ability to pay this off. Even I don't have that kind of money on hand."

Ranma clenches his fists, realizing that he is caught, not by the money, but by his families honor. With a resigned sigh, he looks down. "I will find some way to make this up to you, Sakura. I can't break my engagement with Akane, but my families honor is at stake if I break your engagement as well. I need time to think about this, can you please come back later?" With this, Ranma turns and slowly makes his way back up towards his room, his shoulders slumped.

Akane gives a soft gasp, then hurries off to her room, feeling more than a bit betrayed and heart broken 'He didn't break off the engagement with her! He said he has to think about it! What if he chooses her? What if I loose him!' are the thoughts running through her mind as she runs into her room, throwing herself onto her bed with her face buried in the pillow for a good cry.

Nabiki gives Sakura a cold look before leaving the room as well, her mind already churning over the possibilities as she weighs her options in what is to come, all the time contemplating exactly what she will do if Ranma hurts her little sister. Regardless of the fact that Nabiki tried to steal him for herself, this was a matter of family. Even if she had won Ranma over, at least he would still be part of the family, and she did realize she had done the wrong thing in trying to break them up. She just hoped that Ranma did the right thing, and that he could help her win back Kuno-baby, the idiot that he was.

Kasumi gives Sakura and apologetic look before speaking "Do you have a place to stay, and what is your number there? I know that everything will turn out for the best, but I really think that Ranma and Akane make a cute couple, and it would be such a shame if something were to happen to them, I would feel very sorry for whoever hurt those nice your people, they would have to be a truly cold, uncaring person to break up such a sweet couple. Would you like some tea or cookies before you head home? I have a fresh batch of cookies in the kitchen, and I had just started some tea." Kasumi says in her most motherly fashion.

Sakura just shakes her head sadly, before walking back towards the entry. Stopping to put her shoes back on, she turns towards Kasumi and bows "I did not mean to cause any trouble, but I am not going to give up on him. He needs someone to take care of him, there are a lot of things that he just won't be able to do for himself. It is what I have spent my whole life preparing for, and I just can't give that up. I am sorry for any trouble this may cause, but it is a matter of family honor. Thank you for your hospitality, and I hope that this can all end in a matter that leaves all of us able to be civil to each other." She bows once again, then walks out the front door.

"Oh my, trouble does seem to follow Ranma-kun around, that is for sure, but they are such good young people, I am sure it will all work out for the best." With this, Kasumi goes about her usual routine, planning on going up to talk to Akane in just a bit, after she has had some chance to calm down. Things were certainly more interesting around the house since Ranma came. Perhaps too interesting at times.

Akane lay crying in her room, great, heartbroken sobs escaping her lips as she cries her heart out. She didn't know what to do. Ranma had another fiancé! Even if he didn't know about her, he still had another engagement. Next time she saw Genma, she was going to hit that idiot so hard he would land in America! Just when things started to look like they were finally going to work out, this had to happen! She might not be too happy about the whole arranged marriage thing, but at least Ranma was not like the rest of the boys she knew, right? And then there was that smile of his, that made her feel funny inside. And now this. She couldn't help but wonder if perhaps both of them had done something to upset the Kami. It just wasn't fair! She didn't know what she was going to do, exactly, but she did know one thing. She wasn't going to give up on him! What she couldn't understand is why he didn't just tell Sakura that the engagement was off! Maybe he wanted to have more than just her? That didn't quite sound right, it didn't fit what she had seen of him, but then why?

Kasumi walks up to Akane's room, listening to the soft sobs coming from inside. She knows that this is going to be tough on both of them, but in the end, it will show both of them how they really feel about each other. She hopes that things would work out, the more she sees of Ranma, the more she likes having him around, even if he did throw her world into chaos, seeing the smile on Akane's face was worth it. And then there was Nabiki, who seemed to be finally starting to open herself up to other people at last. She runs her hands over her immaculate apron, preparing herself to once again pull things back together. She puts on her most caring, loving smile as she raps gently on Akane's door. "Can I come in, Akane-chan?"

Akane looks up in surprise when Kasumi knocks on the door, then quickly wipes her eyes as she says "Yes, Oneechan. You can come in." She tries to stop her crying and puts on her best face. She doesn't want Kasumi to know just how much this is bothering her, even if it is painfully obvious. She stifles her sobs as she wonders once again what they had done to offend the Kami so.

Kasumi enters Akane's room, and can immediately tell that Akane had been crying from her red eyes and tear-streaked face. She smiles at her little sister in her most calm and reassuring manner, then sits down next to her, smoothing her skirt as she sits down. "Things sure are never boring with Ranma around, are they? Every time things seem to be settling down, something new comes up. I do hope you know that Ranma didn't know about this happening, Akane-chan. I think he was as surprised as the rest of us about her showing up." Her calm, relaxed manner serves to once again help things start to calm down, as Akanes little trembles subside a bit more.

Akane turns her tear-stained face towards her benignly smiling older sister, as the tears threaten to start pouring out once again. "But why didn't he just send her away! I am his fiancé, aren't I? Why does this have to happen! It's just not fair!" Akane can't hold back the tears anymore as she buries her face into Kasumi's shoulder and cries her heart out as her sister comforts her gently.

Kasumi gives Akane her most warm, heartfelt smile as she says softly "Akane, Ranma has a very strong sense of honor. Anyone who knows him knows that, and that is what is causing him to have problems right now. When Genma made the arrangement about Sakura, he placed his and Ranma's honor on the line. Ranma can't just cancel the engagement without hurting his honor, Sakura's honor, and what honor his father may have. Never forget that Ranma chose you, out of the three of us, you are the one that he wants to be with. No matter what the future may hold, don't forget that one fact, ok? Now, why don't you dry your tears and get cleaned up? I will have supper ready soon, and didn't Ranma say something about introducing you and Nabiki to Kho Lon?" Kasumi stands up and begins to walk towards the door before stopping and looking back at Akane "I think that Ranma could probably use someone to talk to right now, I can't imagine that this is easy on him." With this, Kasumi leaves the room, and heads back down to finish preparing supper.

Akane frets for another minute before getting up and walking to Ranma and Genma's room. She pauses for a moment, then knocks on his door. "Ranma, can I come in, please? I want to talk about what happened down there." She waits impatiently, shifting her weight back and forth off of her injured ankle, as she begins to fret. She can't help but think that things are going to go wrong, that what they share will suffer from this. And she can't help but think about what she is going to do to Genma when she gets her hands on him. 'Neither Ranma nor I deserve to have to go through this, and it can't be easy on Sakura, either. Oh, that stupid man is going to pay!' Akane thinks to herself, as she hears someone moving around inside the room.

Ranma walks towards the door, being careful not to step on anything as he listens to the person on the other side of the door 'Lets see, no humming, so I don't think it is Kasumi, the knock was loud enough to be heard downstairs, so not Nabiki, and I can hear the person shifting their weight back and forth, so I am betting it is Akane. I hope she isn't mad about all of this. Pop's sure made one heck of a mess this time.' Ranma thinks as he opens the door, and addresses the young woman outside. "If you want, you can come in, Akane. I'm sorry 'bout this happening, there are times I just can't believe my father!" Ranam ruefully shakes his head, stepping aside to let her enter.

Akane smiles a little bit at the look of consternation on Ranma's face, knowing that right now at least they are sharing the same thoughts, even if they happen to be on the fact that Ranma's dad is an idiot. "I won't say I am happy about all of this, Ranma, but I know that it isn't your fault, now, your father on the other hand….." Akane says with a malicious look in her eyes as she hefts her mallet "I do hold him responsible for all of this, and I am looking forward to 'discussing' it with him."

Ranma can't see the grim look on her face, but can guess at it from the tone of her voice. He can also feel the radiant chi she is giving off growing more and more heated by the moment. He knows it is about time to get her focused again, or the training he has started her on will be wasted, and she needs this, needs to learn to control her temper better or it will control her. Now more than ever it is important that Akane begins her training with the elder. "Now, Akane, try and calm down, its ok to be upset, but you are letting your temper get the better of you. If you feel up to it, I will take you and Nabiki to meet Elder Kho Lon tonight after supper, I want to talk to her anyhow about everything that is going on, she does have a few centuries of experiences to draw on, after all."

Akane gives him a strange look "Did you say a few centuries? How old is she?" Once again Ranma proves to her that life is a little more complicated than she had thought, the mere idea of some centuries old Master of the Art makes her pause for a moment, once again wondering what exactly she has gotten herself into.

Ranma grins at her "Yup, if what she says is true, she has been on the council of elders for a very long time, and I don't think she would make up a story like that. I can't wait to see Mu Tsu as well, I haven't had a chance to talk to him since I left China with Pops." Ranma thinks for a minute, before grinning again "Hopefully her won't think I'm Ryoga, I don't really want to get attacked today."

Akane gives him a blank look for a moment before asking "Why would he think you are Ryoga? You don't look alike at all. And why would his thinking you are Ryogoa get you attacked? Really, Ranma, you have the oddest friends, don't you?" She finds it a little hard not to smile a shy little smile, the air of chaos that seems to follow Ranam around amazing her once again.

Ranma just laughs at this before answering, "Mu Tsu doesn't exactly have the best vision, and he doesn't like to wear the glasses that would help him see better, so most of the time he can only really make out the sort of shape things are, if even that. And why he would be attacking me if he thought I was Ryoga is because he is really interested in Xian Pu, and hates Ryoga for taking her away from him, even if she doesn't have those kinds of feelings for him. It is just a big mess." Ranma shakes his head sadly at the awkward situation his friends find themselves in.

Akane gives him a wide-eyes look before continuing "Wow, that is a mess. And all of this because Ryoga beat Xian Pu? I am going to have to ask her more about her village some time, if these kinds of things happen there, sounds a lot more interesting than Nerima, at least before you arrived, Ranma."

Ranma just grins a bit at this before nodding "Yup, her village is pretty interesting, been there for a long time, seen a lot of strange things happen there, some of them even I find hard to believe. Like the cursed springs, those I find hard to believe. I mean, who ever heard of a place that has springs that curse you to change shape?"

Akane and Ranma laugh at this strange thought for a while before settling down at last. Ranma gives Akane that famous lop-sided grin of his before speaking again. "Ok, I think it is about that time, lets go eat, then we will head on over to see the Amazons."

With that, they head downstairs to begin the usual meal-time battle in preparation for what is to come. With some measure of surprise, Nabiki finds herself the newest addition to the battle, as her plate is very quickly cleaned off by Ranma and Akane. She gives them both a rather perturbed look before laughing softly and sighing. "I guess this means I am officially being trained now, eh? Well, no time like the present, then." With this, Nabiki begins to pilfer food along with the rest, just barely getting enough to call a meal in before the table is bare.

After they are done eating, Ranma rises to his feet, stretches for a moment, and holds his hand out to Akane. "Well, I think it is time to introduce you and Nabiki to the Elder, so, lets get going! It might be a bit late when we get back, I imagine that Kho Lon will want to test you out before she agrees to train you, Nabiki, but I am pretty sure she will accept you, as long as you have the potential to learn from her." That said, they begin the journey towards the Neko-hanten, and the next stage of their destinies.

Sakura sits at the table she had chosen and sighs, thinking about how things had gone so wrong. Nothing was going as she had hoped it would, she wasn't welcomed with open arms, by the man she had spent her life preparing for. No, in fact, she found out he had another fiancé, and that he did not even know about her at all. She cursed the fates that would toy with a woman's heart in such a way, and tried to figure out what she wanted to do. Just giving up on Ranma was out of the question, besides spending her life getting ready to take care of him, there was also the matter of her families honor, and the blow it would take if she did not marry Ranma. She just couldn't understand how Papa Saotome could do this to her, how this could happen. Since it was apparent she would be here for a while, first thing to do would be to find a place to live, and then a job. Luckily, an old friend of the family lived nearby; hopefully he would be able to help her find a job, maybe even at his practice. With that decided on, she paid her tab and left to visit Dr Tofu, maybe he would know what to do.

Elsewhere, a trio of teenagers makes their way towards the Neko-hanten café in downtown Nerima; the younger two talking animatedly back and forth as the third, a slightly older girl with short, brown hair, thinks about what has happened in the last few days, and how it has led her here. Where the other two seem very relaxed talking to each other as they settle things between them, she is quiet, thinking about what she is about to do. She knows that she is no where near the martial artist that Ranma, or, for that matter, Akane is, knowing that she has not practiced seriously in years, but here she is, heading to meet, and possibly learn from, a Chinese Amazon, of all things. One who has been around for a long time. She might try to hide it, but deep inside, she is very nervous about the whole situation. As she watches the young couple, for that is surely what they have become, talk to each other, seeing the scars of the last few days, and today, being wiped away, she sets her face in a determined manner, knowing that she wants to be happy, that she no longer wants to be alone. That she is tired of being the Ice Queen of Furinkan high, that for once she just wants to be another happy teenage girl, talking to her boyfriend. She smirks a bit at this, never having imagined that this could happen to her, day dreaming about some boy, and not just any boy, but Kuno! 'Oh, the Kami must just be getting a kick out of this' she thinks to herself as they near the restaurant in question.

The café looks like many others in downtown Nerima, the only thing that sets it apart is the cat sign and the fact that is boasts authentic Chinese cooking, and a very fast delivery service. As they stand outside the building, they can hear the sound of a bike bell ringing, it sound like it is coming….from above them? Barely dodging out of the way, Ranma carries Akane out of the impact zone as Xian Pu lands on the street where they were standing, having just landed her bike from her last delivery along the rooftops of Nerima. "Nihao, Ranma! You come for some of our too, too good Ramen, yes? Nihao, Akane, you taking good care of Ranma, yes? He too, too cute, not as cute as Ryouga, but cute, yes? You come to see Grandmother, she waiting inside." She turns towards Ranma and switches to Mandarin "Ranma, I do hope you chose well, you could have had any of the women in the village, are you sure that she is going to be the right one for you? And how is her training going? Do you think she has the potential to learn what you can teach her? Oh, and Mu Tsu has been waiting to see you again, maybe you can keep him out of Ryouga and my way for a little bit." She says this last with a very wicked grin "I just love watching my Airen get nosebleeds."

Ranma starts laughing at what Xian Pu has said before answering her in Mandarin as well "Yes, I think that Akane has the potential to learn what I can teach her, even without being actively trained for the last ten years or so, she is pretty good. She has a long way to go, but she has the potential to be great. The one I am concerned about is her sister, Nabiki. She hasn't been training since their mother died, and she has a rather hard target to take on. I am hoping that Elder Khu Lon can help her out, she has a very fast and sharp mind, and is devious to the extreme. But deep down, I know she has a good heart, otherwise I would never come to ask the Elder if she could train her."

Xian Pu looks over the two Tendo sisters once again before addressing Nabiki in Japanese once again "You come to learn from Grandmother? You either too, too brave, or too, too stupid if you think you can learn from Grandmother. You not even Amazon. How outsider girl think she is good enough to learn secrets of Amazons?" Xian Pu says with a shake of her head as she eyes Nabiki critically.

Nabiki looks at Xian Pu with her coldest look before replying "Ok, I will admit that I haven't really practiced in quite a while, but I….I have something to fight for, something to try and achieve, and I will not give up, not without a fight, not this time. There have been so many times I have given up on something I really wanted for the sake of my family, just this once I want to do something for myself. I want to prove to myself that I am more than what everyone sees, just the mercenary girl that cares more for money than anything else. I am tired of it, and I want to see if I can change, if it is not too late to change. If there is one thing I have learned from Ranma, it is that you can achieve almost anything if you just set your mind to it. Now, if the elder won't teach me what I need to learn, then I guess I will find someone who will." Nabiki says this with utter conviction in her voice, all traces of doubt suppressed by the Ice Queen.

At this, a cackling laugh can be heard as a wrinkled little mummy of a woman comes bouncing out on top of a staff, her shrewd, calculating eyes looking over each of them in turn. She pays careful attention to the Tendo daughters; examining them in a way that made both of them feel awkward and more than a bit embarrassed. Finally, she bounces her staff back a little bit before addressing the youths gathered before her. "So, this is your fiancé Akane and her sister Nabiki, most interesting, I must say. There appears to be some potential here. So, you would have me train this one so that she could defeat a worthy foe, eh? Interesting indeed, grandson. I want to see her spar before I make any decisions. If I choose to accept her, than I will teach her what I deem she is fit to learn, if not, then you will never ask for me to train her again. Is that clear, Ranma?" At this Ranma just nods, a serious look on his face. She turns her gaze back towards Nabiki, giving her one last critical look over. "How often do you practice the Art, child?"

Nabiki looks back at the elder in a cool, composed way. "It has been quite a while since I actively practiced, I know that I am not as good as Akane, but I want to try. I want to find out if this is really all there is to me. Let me warm up, and then I am ready, elder, to see if there is more to me than I think there is." With this, she gives the elder a stiff bow and begins to do her warm-ups, trying to remember them as she learned them so long ago from her mother and father. If you looked closely, you could see a lone tear slide down her cheek as she tried to flow from one exercise to another, trying to recapture that feeling, that flow, that had been absent from her life for so long. Deep down, she couldn't help but know that there was no way she would pull this off, but she had to try, no matter how it ended up. She wanted to do this for herself. After she finishes her warm up, and the few kata she could remember, she turns and bows to Kho Lon as she slides into a very basic stance.

The elder looks her over one more time in a critical manner before launching into a slow series of attacks, testing the girl before her, slowly speeding up the flow. Even going slowly, she was penetrating her defenses at will, landing stinging blows wherever she wanted. Every attempt at a counter-attack was thwarted, every plan taken apart. The elder was unwavering in her assault, all the time watching how the young lady responded to each and every maneuver. After five minutes of beating had passed, she could see Ranma holding his fiancé back, giving her a look that asked her to trust him. She couldn't help but cackle at this, feeling that perhaps Ranma might have found himself a good match, and getting lost in the thought of the, hopefully female, children they would have. Pulling herself away from these thoughts, she reaches out and touches Nabiki with the point of her cane, and the middle Tendo's body instantly freezes up, unable to move from the neck down. Slowly, Kho Lon circles her, looking her over, the bruises already forming on her body, and the look in her eyes, both fear and determination combined. "Now, what do I do with you, child? I have beaten you, and could have at any time. Now, you stand here at my mercy, what do you think happens to you now, hmm? Do you yield? If you give up the nonsense, I will set you free." She gives Nabiki one more critical look over, "If you do not, then I will have to hurt you in a way that will deter you from trying this again. The choice is yours, child."

Nabiki couldn't believe the pain she was in; it felt like her body was on fire. Never had she felt anything like it, even when she was practicing the Art with her parents. Everything that she was told her to quit, to just give it up and go back to the person she really was inside. But then she thinks of Kuno, and the cold, uncaring looks that he has been giving her of late, and how he looks at her sister. Even if he is as nutty as a fruitcake, she wants him to look at her like that. She is pretty sure she knows what will happen to her if she doesn't give in, how the elder was studying her leg spoke volumes to her. She knows what she should do, and starts to open her mouth to give in, and then remembers what she tried to do to Akane and Ranma in her jealousy. Making a decision on the spur of the moment, not planning it through like she had her entire life, Nabiki Tendo makes a decision straight from her heart. "I am not going to give in, Elder. I said that I wanted to find out what was inside of me, even if it was lacking. I know that I don't have what it takes, but I just can't give up, not like this. I came looking to learn, and even if all you teach me is humility, I will learn something." With this, she closes her eyes, and waits for the inevitable.

Kho Lon sighs, then strikes out at the young lady before her as Ranma restrains his fiancé from interfering bodily. Her strike is clean and precise, and the young lady before her falls to the ground. She bounces over to hover above her fallen opponent and says with a cackle "You start your training tomorrow, child, now, go get some rest. You will need it." She pulls a small note from inside her robes and drops it on her. "This is what you need to bring with you. I expect nothing less than everything you have, and more. If at any time I feel like you are giving in, then you are done being trained. Good luck, child, you are going to need it." With this, she cackles evilly as Ranma and Akane come forward to help Nabiki up, with Akane bearing a rather sheepish expression on her face.

After they have gathered Nabiki up, Akane looks at Kho Lon and nods her head "I am sorry, elder, that I tried to interfere. I was just worried about my sister. She might have her faults, but I still lover her. Thank you for agreeing to train her, elder." Akane gives her one of her best smiles, as Ranma just shakes his head with an amused look on his face.

Kho Lon looks Akane over once again, then turns towards Ranma as she speaks "Tomorrow, I think I would like to see just what you fiancé can do, grandson. If you are willing, Akane, I would like to see you spar against my grand daughter, Xian Pu. I promise there will be no kiss of death if you should somehow beat her, you are after all the intended of Ranma, who has been adopted into the tribe. I would just like to see what the Tendo style is capable of before I start to train your sister."

Akane grins at her, then nods "Of course, elder! I would love to! You know, before Ranma came, I was the best martial artist in all of Nerima, and with his help, I hope to be at least as good as him, someday. Thank you once again for helping my sister. We had better get her over to Dr. Tofu's office so that we can make sure she is ready for tomorrow." With this, the pair takes Nabiki off to see Dr. Tofu, as Kho Lon gives all three of them a critical looking over.

"Yes, quite a bit of potential there, indeed. I look forward to seeing what will come of them. Things are always so much more interesting when Ranma is involved." With this, she goes cackling back into the café, calling for Mu Tsu and Xian Pu as she goes to get ready for the late rush.


End file.
